Aston Villa had a superb campaign in 2023/24. They finished fourth in the Premier League, their second-highest finish since the competition was rebranded from the First Divison in 1992 when Ron Atkinson was the manager.
Their fourth-place finish saw them qualify for the Champions League, returning to European football’s most prestigious competition for the first time since it was called the European Cup in 1982/83. In that campaign, the Villans were defending champions, winning the trophy in the 1981/82 season.
It was certainly a team effort from Unai Emery’s squad to reach Europe’s premier competition again, but one of their players was a standout performer. That man was Ollie Watkins.
Ollie Watkins 2023/24 campaign in numbers
It was a quite remarkable campaign for England international Watkins, and he was one of the best players in the Premier League. The 28-year-old was a key reason as to why the Villans were able to qualify for Europe again.
The England striker, who scored in the Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands, played 37 times in the top flight of English football, scoring 19 times and registering 13 assists. In all competitions, he played 53 times, with 27 goals and 13 assists in total.
His performances last season were superb, and Watkins was equal second for the most combined goals and assists in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer led the way with 33, and Watkins, alongside Erling Haaland, came in second, with 32 each. They were the only three players in the English top flight who scored and assisted 30 or more goals.
Not only did the former Brentford striker score and assist the second-highest number of goals, but his 13 assists were the best in the top flight. He was recognised for such an achievement, winning the Premier League’s playmaker award.
It was undoubtedly the best season of the striker’s career so far. The 28-year-old performed better than ever and helped the Villans return to the heights of the continent’s top competition.
However, for all his goals last term, there has been a former Villa striker who has somewhat outdone him over the last year.
Christian Benteke’s stats after leaving in 2024
The player in question here is former Villa talisman Christian Benteke.
The 33-year-old now plies his trade in the United States of America for Wayne Rooney’s former club, DC United. It is fair to say the Belgian has had a successful time of things of late.
He has scored 17 goals in 23 MLS games so far in 2024, and two goals in three appearances in the MSL Cup. Impressively, the Belgian is currently leading the MLS Golden Boot race, ahead of the likes of Luis Suarez (16) and Lionel Messi (12).
His record speaks for itself, and he statistically scored more regularly Watkins when looking at his 2023/24 Premier League tally.
Although the Englishman has scored more goals, he has fewer goals per game than the former Liverpool striker as per FBref.
Benteke averages 0.79 goals per game in the current MLS season, with Watkins’ average from last term just 0.53 each game, according to FBref.
Reflecting back on Benteke’s time in the Premier League, he was one of the league’s deadliest strikers for a period of time.
In 280 games, he scored 86 times across spells for Villa, Liverpool, who paid the Villans £32.5m in 2015, and Crystal Palace.
He was a formidable centre-forward and enjoyed a successful personal career in the top flight of England as the stats below reflect.
Even though he has not played for Villa for a number of years, he was a “beast” in the Midlands, as football scout Antonio Mango described him.
For Villa fans, it might be enjoyable to see a former player still has his shooting boots on and is consistently finding the back of the net towards the end of his career
