Brentford star admits £28m Villa man is one of the most difficult players to face in the Premier League

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Brentford defender Ben Mee has admitted that Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins is one of the most difficult to play against in the Premier League.

Mee was speaking on BBC 5 Live ahead of Aston Villa’s fantastic win over West Ham United yesterday.

It was a victory that restored Unai Emery’s side to fifth in the Premier League table and extended their home winning streak in the league to 11 matches.

Douglas Luiz continued his incredible scoring record having now found the back of the net in six consecutive home league games.

He was set up by Ollie Watkins for his first and the England international added his name to the score sheet in the second half with a ferocious effort beating Alphonse Areola at his near post.

The £28m forward has been in sensational form this season, recording at least a goal or assist in six of Aston Villa’s first nine league games and already has two hat-tricks across all competitions.

Ben Mee has now described how highly regarded Watkins still is at Brentford since his move to Villa.

He also talks about what it’s like to face him and it sounds like Thomas Frank would have him back in a heartbeat.

Considering how he’s currently playing and the fact he just signed a new contract, any transfer would be out of the budget of almost any Premier League side at this point.

Mee raves about Villa star Watkins

Asked about the 27-year-old, Mee said: “He’s highly regarded at our place, the manager really likes him and there’s a lot of players that speak about him before we play Villa.

“I think he was top scorer during the promotion-winning season and won the Championship Player of the Year.

“He’s held in high regard at the club and he’s certainly a top player.

“I remember the first time I played against him at Villa Park and I think it was Covid times, there were no fans in the ground but I was thinking, ‘What a handful this lad is’.

“He’s running off me, he’s winning headers, he’s holding up the ball, I think he’s an excellent player and he seems to be improving year on year. He’s got a little bit of everything.

“I think he’s one of the most difficult in the Premier League at the minute to play up against because he works so hard for his team.

“He puts in a really good shift, pressing, running both ways. We spoke about before doing both bits for your team, the other side of the game which he does so well.

“I’m a really big fan. There’s a few players like that, strikers that like to come short, you don’t get many that do both and he’s certainly one of them that does that.”

Watkins one of the Premier League’s most in-form players

Ben Mee isn’t the only Premier League player lauding Ollie Watkins, with his old Villa teammate Jack Grealish also impressed with his performance yesterday.

He has been a solid Premier League striker for some time but appears to have reached another level under Unai Emery.

His partnership with new signing Moussa Diaby has started brilliantly and with Matty Cash and Lucas Digne both looking dangerous from the flanks, Watkins won’t be short of chances.

He will be aware he could be even more clinical in front of goal, missing a very good chance in the opening minutes yesterday.

But where Villa are winning games and he’s contributing in front of goal, Emery can’t ask for much more.