Aston Villa return to action in the Premier League this afternoon as they travel to London to take on Brentford away from home.
The Villans are unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions and come into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw with Zrinjski in their final Europa Conference League group stage outing.
Unai Emery's side have won 11 of their 16 top-flight games so far this season and are looking to continue their push for Champions League football next term.
After Thursday night's draw in Bosnia, the Spanish head coach could look to make changes to his side and one player who must be unleashed from the start is England international Ollie Watkins.
Jhon Duran's performance against Zrinjski in numbers
Colombia international Jhon Duran started ahead of the star striker in midweek and did not do enough to suggest that he deserves to start against Brentford.
It was another learning experience for the 20-year-old prospect as he played 90 minutes without landing himself a goal or an assist to show for his efforts.
The left-footed dud did not create a single chance for his teammates and failed to beat the goalkeeper with the two shots that he was able to take, alongside a duel success rate of 33.3% (1/3).
Birmingham Mail's John Townley gave Duran a match rating of 6/10 and pointed to his failure to convert the chances that came his way as the main reason why his performance was not a particularly impressive one.
Meanwhile, Watkins spent the entire match in Bulgaria as an unused substitute for Villa and should be fresh to face the Bees this afternoon.
Watkins' Premier League statistics this season
The £130k-per-week whiz should be unleashed over Duran as he has been in superb form for the Villans in the Premier League this season.
He has showcased his ability as both a scorer and a creator of goals for his teammates in the top-flight and is the "perfect" – as put by journalist Josh Bunting – striker for Emery as the system suits him and the way he likes to peel off defenders and constantly make runs in-behind to stretch defences.
Watkins has contributed with eight goals and six assists in 16 league games for Villa so far this term, which works out as a goal involvement every 1.14 games on average.
The England international, who was once described as 'lethal' by Trevor Sinclair, currently ranks within the top 8% of Premier League forwards for assists (0.39) per 90. This shows that he has the awareness and quality to create opportunities for others to go along with his own terrific goal threat.
He also ranks within the top 8% of his positional peers for touches in the opposition's box (6.58) per 90 and this shows that the system is allowing him to get in dangerous positions on a regular basis, which has led to his impressive return of goals and assists.
Therefore, Emery must unleash his perfect, lethal, number nine and ditch Duran, who failed to take his chance on Thursday, against Thomas Frank's side today as he has the quality to be the match-winner for Villa.
