Ollie Watkins Aims For World Cup 2026 After Toughest Season Yet With Aston Villa

Ollie Watkins calls Aston Villa’s 2025-26 campaign the hardest spell of a strong career yet, but the forward still targets a place in England’s 2026 World Cup squad as Villa visit struggling Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, with both clubs juggling domestic pressure and recent Europa League action.

Watkins has found consistent form difficult since that dramatic Euro 2024 semi-final winner for England against the Netherlands under Gareth Southgate, yet the latest Europa League display brought renewed optimism and raised fresh questions about Watkins’ international chances after a difficult exclusion from recent national team plans.

The 30-year-old has scored 12 goals in 44 matches across all competitions this season, and Thomas Tuchel left Watkins out of England’s squad last month, a surprise omission that underlined the dip in club form which followed that defining Euro moment and increased scrutiny on every league performance for Aston Villa.

Watkins responded with two goals in Aston Villa’s 3-1 victory over Bologna on Thursday, in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, extending a productive run of three straight major European appearances with direct goal contributions, totalling three goals and one assist in that sequence for Unai Emery’s team.

That Bologna result also marked the first time Watkins has scored in consecutive away games in European competition, but the forward accepts that this productive spell must also appear in Premier League fixtures, especially with Aston Villa pursuing qualification for UEFA’s top club tournament as England’s top five now progress.

Reflecting on the campaign, Watkins did not hide the emotional strain. "We've got a massive tournament in the summer, Watkins said. I'm doing all I can to get there, score some more goals before the end of the season and hopefully be in that World Cup squad."

Watkins explained how expectations changed after earlier success. "The toughest moment for me has probably been, throughout all my career, I would say this season. Just because I've done so well to get to where I am. Getting to thePremier League, we had a bit of a dip. I scored goals, and then you set that expectation where I think I can hit a new level and score goals in Europe as well."

Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest: Pressure, form swings and Forest’s relegation battle

Watkins linked that pressure directly to the Euro 2024 impact. "That goal after the Euros. I think there are more eyes on you, and then this year I haven't been at the level I wanted to, so learning to deal with that is hard." The trip to the City Ground on Sunday offers another chance to respond.

Nottingham Forest arrive from a demanding week too, taking a 1-1 draw back from Portugal after Martim Fernandes' unusual own goal earned Vitor Pereira's side a point against Porto, leaving Forest two points clear of the relegation places in 16th, with West Ham now level on points after beating Wolves 4-0.

The situation tightens further if results turn against Forest. A defeat to Aston Villa, combined with a Tottenham victory over Sunderland on Sunday, would leave Nottingham Forest outside the relegation zone only on goal difference, intensifying pressure at the City Ground before the Porto second leg in European competition.

Pereira stressed the need for balance and energy. "The moment of Aston Villa is not the same asTottenhambut, thinking about us, in our minds, is to prepare, to compete, to get points, because we need a good result, Pereirasaid. To have a good result is important, we need to be with fresh legs and fresh minds to face a strong team like Aston Villa. We need to face these games [Villa and the Porto second leg] at our best level. That's why it's important to balance the two competitions. Otherwise, it would be impossible to move on."

Forest’s creativity often runs through Morgan Gibbs-White. In 2026, only Bruno Fernandes with 12, Joao Pedro with 10, and Igor Thiago with eight have more Premier League goal involvements than Gibbs-White’s seven, from six goals and one assist, though only one involvement came at the City Ground, against Crystal Palace in February.

Aston Villa’s structure relies heavily on John McGinn. Villa have won 14 of 23 league games started by McGinn this season, a 61% success rate, the highest among players with at least 20 Premier League starts for the club, while that figure drops to 25%, or two wins from eight, when McGinn does not start.

History leans towards Aston Villa in this fixture. Emery’s side chase a league double over Nottingham Forest for the first time since the 2017-18 Championship season, and first in the Premier League since 1992-93, having lost only three of 17 top-flight matches against Forest, winning nine and drawing five overall.

Among opponents faced at least 15 times in the Premier League, Aston Villa have a lower loss rate only against Coventry City at 16.7% than against Nottingham Forest at 17.6%, yet Villa have been vulnerable away from home lately, losing the last two league trips, after five consecutive away defeats across November and December 2024.

Forest’s recent home record against Aston Villa is positive, with two successive league wins at the City Ground, though Forest last produced three straight home victories over Villa between 1977 and 1979. Overall home form has dipped, with seven Premier League matches without a win there, four draws and three defeats.

Forest have not scored in their last three league home games and last experienced a longer scoreless home run in February 2018 in the Championship, five matches, while only once in the top division have Forest gone four home league games without a goal, a sequence recorded in April 1911.

Finishing has been a major problem this season at the City Ground, where Forest’s 13 goals have come from 228 Premier League shots, a conversion rate of 5.7%, the lowest home figure by any side in a single Premier League campaign since Fulham’s 3.9% at Craven Cottage during the 2020-21 season.

OPTA’s model currently favours the visitors in this meeting between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, reflecting Villa’s superior league position and Forest’s attacking problems, though the probabilities still underline the chance of a close contest at the City Ground.

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The meeting between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest therefore brings together Watkins’ push to regain peak Premier League form, Forest’s fight against relegation, key figures such as McGinn and Gibbs-White, and long historical trends, with European schedules adding extra strain to both squads during a crucial period.