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Villa's Attacking Woes Persist Despite Europa League Win
28 Sep, 2025
Summary
- Aston Villa's first win of the season was a narrow Europa League victory over Bologna
- Striker Ollie Watkins has missed 4 of his last 8 penalties and gone 9 games without a goal
- Midfielder Morgan Rogers has struggled with poor passing accuracy and duel success rate
As of September 29th, 2025, Aston Villa's attacking woes continue to plague the team despite their recent narrow Europa League victory over Bologna on Thursday. The win, achieved more through perspiration than inspiration, did little to ease the crisis of confidence among Villa's forward players.
Striker Ollie Watkins' poor penalty in the Europa League match was symptomatic of his, and the team's, lack of conviction so far this season. Watkins has now missed 4 of his past 8 spot-kicks, excluding shootouts, and gone 9 games without a goal - the joint-worst run of his Villa career. Across those appearances, spanning more than 11 hours, Watkins has only had 40 touches in the opposition penalty area and averaged less than one shot on target per game.
Furthermore, Villa's biggest concern is the form of midfielder Morgan Rogers. The PFA Young Player of the Year's influence has waned since the early February arrival of loanees Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, which meant he was moved to a less-favoured position wide on the right. This season, Rogers has looked a shadow of his former self, with the worst pass accuracy and duel success rate of any Villa player in 2025-26.
