Aston Villa need the pace of Ollie Watkins to worry their opponents and the striker's absence could be a huge boost for Newcastle United.
That's the view of Watford striker Troy Deeney, who has outlined the struggles Dean Smith's side faced in their opening-day defeat at Vicarage Road.
Goals from Emmanuel Dennis, Ismaila Sarr and Cucho Hernandez sealed a 3-2 victory for the newly-promoted side, with late consolation strikes coming from John McGinn and Danny Ings.
Watkins missed out on the first match of the season with a knee injury, and it is unclear whether the England international will be available to face Newcastle on Saturday.
Smith has suggested the decision over the striker's involvement will be determined by whether the 25-year-old suffers from pain in training this week.
Deeney came on as a substitute during Watford's victory, and he believes the visitors struggled with Watkins' absence.
The Hornets captain reckons Villa need pace in behind to cause problems, and otherwise found it difficult to break down the hosts' defence.
Deeney told talkSPORT: "Beating the Villa is always good fun.
"I saw them through pre-season and I actually watched the game against Walsall, they were really, really good.
"I just think when Ollie Watkins isn't there, they don't have the same threat in behind. I know Leon Bailey came on and so did Bertrand Traore, but the way that team plays needs pace in the wide areas to really push you back and get you worried.
"Danny Ings is going to score you goals, we know his quality. But I just think they needed pace to get in behind.
"Emi Buendia was getting the ball very deep and not really affecting us, so we always had a line of four they had to try and break through.
"They were just playing in front of us a time. The last five or ten minutes after John McGinn scored that worldie, they kind of turned it on a bit."
