Aston Villa host Everton in Saturday's tea-time Premier League clash
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins(Image credit: Getty Images)
Aston Villa return to Premier League action on Saturday tea-time when they welcome Everton to Villa Park.
The Villans have won two of their opening three Premier League matches and will be hoping to inflict more misery on a Toffees side that have lost all three of their matches so far this season, including a calamitous 3-2 reverse at home to Bournemouth last time out which saw them leading 2-0 with less than five minutes to play.
Villa do have one major injury doubt going into Saturday's clash however, after striker Ollie Watkins was withdrawn from the England squad last week.
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Will Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins be fit enough to play against Everton on Saturday?
Watkins was originally named in Lee Carsley's first England squad to face the Republic of Ireland and Finland in the Nations League, only to be withdrawn last Tuesday evening after undergoing an assessment by the Three Lions staff at St George's Park.
The FA statement said Watkins was suffering from an 'ongoing issue' that would be assessed back at his club.
No further update has been given on the nature of Watkins' injury or whether or not he will be available to face Everton, meaning fans will need to wait for Unai Emery's pre-match press conference on Friday to find out what is going on.
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Ollie Watkins was withdrawn from the England squad last week (Image credit: Getty Images)
The hope will be that Watkins' Three Lions withdraw was a precautionary measure and that the rest afforded to him over the past fortnight will be a welcome respite for a player who returned to pre-season late following his exploits with England at Euro 2024 this summer.
Watkins is yet to score or complete 90 minutes this season, having been substituted just after the hour mark in all three of Villa's Premier League games so far this season.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
