Ollie Watkins overtakes Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland for goal involvements this season

EARLIER this month, Ollie Watkins (£4.5m) was among the most transferred-out Dream Team players for two Gameweeks in a row.

Needless to say, many gaffers have since regretted the decision as the Aston Villa striker has been on a roll of late.

The 28-year-old scored one goal and assisted another as Unai Emery’s men beat Nottingham Forest 4-2 on Saturday.

This impressive showing took Watkins’ tally for the season to 31 goal involvements, divided into 16 goals and 15 assists.

Dream Team

31 goal involvements already this season[/caption]

At the time of writing, he leads the way among all Dream Team assets for goal involvements!

MOST GOAL INVOLVEMENTS (GOALS + ASSISTS) THIS SEASON:

• 31 – Ollie Watkins
• 30 – Erling Haaland
• 29 – Mohamed Salah
• 28 – Bukayo Saka
• 27 – Darwin Nunez
• 26 – Phil Foden
• 24 – Julian Alvarez
• 23 – Cole Palmer

Naturally, this haul has translated to a boat-load of Dream Team points, 218 to be precise.

An 11-point return at Forest’s expense propelled Watkins up to third among forwards with just top-tier assets Haaland and Salah above him.

More broadly, he’s currently fifth among all players.

The England international suffered a lean run of returns from late-December through January but he’s answered his doubters with 60 points in his last six outings.

This productive streak has featured four goals and four assists.

Getty

A fantastic Dream Team asset under Unai Emery’s guidance[/caption]

Watkins is likely to be a immensely popular recruit ahead of Gameweek 26 and not just because of his impressive form.

The Villains are due to play Luton at the weekend before travelling to Amsterdam to face Ajax in the Europa Conference League round of 16.

The famous Dutch outfit are a huge name in Europe’s tertiary competition but the current iteration of the side are vulnerable.

Jordan Henderson and company are without a win in their last four league games and are currently fifth in the Eredivisie table, 29 points adrift of league leaders PSV.

Given this context, Watkins’s upcoming double header has to be considered a favourable one – he averages 6.4 points-per-game this term so a big double-digit haul is certainly on the cards.

It’s early days but Villa’s No11 is currently the most-popular recruit ahead of Gameweek 26 – he now features in 26.1% of teams.

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