Nicolas Jackson’s two-goal performance against Manchester City helped Aston Villa inflict the champions’ first Premier League defeat of the season and continued a remarkable turnaround for the striker under Unai Emery.
The 25-year-old now has seven goals in 11 appearances for Villa, having reunited with Emery, his former manager at Villarreal. His recent form is a striking change for a forward whose reputation at Chelsea was damaged by doubts over his reliability in front of goal.
Jackson’s display against Manchester City also intensified comparisons with Ollie Watkins, the club idol who left Aston Villa Park this summer. Six key statistics from FotMob show how quickly Jackson has become a convincing replacement.
He is averaging 19.6 sprints per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, compared with Watkins’ 13.8 in 2025-26. That is 5.8 more sprints per game. Yet the pair cover almost identical distances, with Jackson averaging 10.4km per 90 minutes and Watkins 10.3km. The figures suggest Jackson is not simply running more, but doing so at greater speed.
Jackson has also completed 2.5 dribbles per 90 minutes, the highest rate among all current Premier League forwards. Watkins finished 2025-26 with an average of 0.8, ranking 15th.
His expected assists figures are equally notable. Jackson’s rate of 0.9 expected assists per 90 minutes places him fourth among Premier League attackers. Watkins finished 17th in that category last season.
There were tangible sporting reasons behind Chelsea’s decision to let Jackson leave. Across two seasons under Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca, he underperformed his expected goals figure of 6.9. Since the start of the current campaign under Emery, however, he has exceeded his expected goals by two.
The sharpest contrast comes in his dribbling numbers. Jackson is producing 2.5 successful dribbles per 90 minutes under Emery, compared with 0.7 under Maresca – 3.5 times as many. That difference highlights how poorly Maresca’s style appeared to fit Jackson’s strengths.
Jackson has registered 22 assists in 174 matches for Villarreal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Aston Villa, equating to one every eight appearances. During his two seasons at Chelsea, he ranked eighth and 10th among forwards for expected assists. After only seven Premier League matches for Villa, he is already fourth.
The numbers require greater context over a full season. Jackson has never scored in more than three consecutive Premier League matches during his 72 appearances in the competition.
Even so, the early evidence raises an obvious question. If Jackson could produce 15 goals and assists in 30 Premier League matches under a manager who did not fully trust him, what might he achieve under a coach placing him at the centre of his plans?