Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Peter Crouch discusses Leeds and Aston Villa stars Patrick Bamford and Ollie Watkins
that there is little to split Aston Villa centre-forward Ollie Watkins and Leeds United’s on-fire number nine Patrick Bamford – after Watkins was picked by Gareth Southgate ahead of Bamford.
It is in an intriguing debate. With Callum Wilson, Danny Ings and Tammy Abraham injured, England have looked to both Watkins and Bamford to give themselves extra fire power over the next fortnight – with Watkins coming out on top.
The ex-Brentford man has been excellent, if not slightly unlucky. Scoring 10 goals in 28 league games, he has also laid on three assists but is unlucky not to have more. Bamford has 14 goals and six assists, but has probably missed more chances.
Crouch has stated that while he cannot knock the decision to sign £33million () striker Watkins after an excellent debut season in the Premier League, he is desperate to see Bamford get an England chance – claiming he offers something different.
“I can’t criticise the decision to pick Ollie Watkins, who has had an excellent season. He deserves his opportunity and it’s probably come down to the toss of a coin. Bamford has two goals in his last seven games, Watkins has one in seven,” Crouch said.
“Bamford is a bit different from any other striker in the Premier League and I’d love to see him get a chance one day but the selection — or should that be ‘no-selection’ — that surprised me most of all involved Trent Alexander-Arnold.”
TBR’s view – Bamford was surely the better decision?
Watkins has power, pace and clearly, can score goals in the Premier League. But at times, he does go missing – he touched the ball 34 times in 90 minutes against Tottenham on Sunday evening, with Trezeguet the only outfield player with less.
The Egyptian winger went off after 78 minutes. What Bamford offers that Crouch states is different, is that he has an aura and is a focal point. His work rate is un paralleled – but his intelligence sees his runs make the difference.
The majority of his goals have been after an excellent run that surprises defenders. Look at his goal against Fulham, he got across Joachim Andersen rather than going behind him. Bamford deserves a go, as does Watkins.
