That time of year, Europe and Premier League, Chelsea and Legia

Sorry for my lack of engagement the past few days, it's been one of those months and it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier this week. That said, I'll use this post to talk about Crystal Palace and Legia. There will be a Chelsea match post on Sunday, don't worry about that and I'll be watching with a bottle of red.

So first up, the result last weekend and bottom line is that it was a deserved three points obtained the hard way. And this is strange, but that's nice to see. The transition from average Premier League side to winning the League doesn't happen overnight, there are phases and stages you need to go through and one of the first is winning the hard way, sometimes with luck.

Most think luck is random, but luck is actually hard work and not random. We're putting in the hard work and we're getting luckier. This isn't me saying we were lucky to get the penalty, it was a penalty all day long and it baffles me there was even a conversation about it after the match. We are getting what we deserve, eventually and that's a good sign.

What's also a good sign that many might not see is what Ollie Watkins is bringing to the team. Granted he hasn't scored in what seems like a season (he has and he will this week) but what is happening because of him is so valuable, the penalty a good example of this, that effectively won us the game against Crystal Palace.

Yes, you want your main striker to be scoring 30 plus goals a season, but to get to that, much like the transition from average Premier League side to League winners, a striker has to put the hard work in first and I think we would all agree that how Aston Villa play under Unai Emery is different to how Ollie Watkins has been asked to play in the past.

Imagine what he's going to be like when it does click for him, the side could become unstoppable or at the very least challenging for top six.

So, before I get carried away, to where Ollie Watkins will score and tomorrow night. I fancy our chances this season in something and it could be that we do quite well in this competition. You all know what I wrote right before the season started, so we wont get carried away now, but I think this is the tournament for Watkins to shine because I think a lot of the sides we meet in this tournament are going to play how we are playing now but they wont be up to the standard of player that Watkins faces in the Premier League week in week out.

Tomorrow is going to be quite exciting and for those that like to know, Legia are the most successful Polish side in history and as of today are third in their national League buf if they were to win their two games in hand, would be top and clear by four points.

Tomorrow is going to be quite exciting, but no walk in the park. Until then.