Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis: Premier League’s Breakout Star Of The Season?

Watford’s Premier League return got off to a rough start which saw manager Xisco Muñoz sacked in October with the club in 18th place. While results have continued to be inconsistent under Claudio Ranieri, the new arrival of Emmanuel Dennis has been a revelation in the first half of the season and his stock is rising by the week.

The Nigerian’s signing was seen as somewhat of a gamble — despite scoring 29 goals in 116 appearances for Club Brugge, he struggled in a half-season loan spell in the Bundesliga with Cologne.

After he returned to Belgium, having made nine appearances without scoring, Cologne sporting director Horst Heldt commented on the transfer, as reported by Goal:

"“He’s not an easy guy. We knew about this problem, but we took too much risk. We misjudged that … Dennis caused a stir because his behaviour was not what the squad needs to be doing. We then dropped him because our priority was the group.”"

Dennis went about silencing any doubters immediately, netting the Hornets’ first goal of the season and providing an assist after a surprising start in the opening day victory over Aston Villa.

He has been the one constant amidst the team’s struggles and is the only Premier League player besides Mohamed Salah to have both scored five goals and provided five assists thus far in the campaign.

Emmanuel Dennis gives Watford options

The 24-year-old gives Watford a variety of options as a result of his versatility. He is comfortable playing through the middle or on either wing and often found himself alternating roles by the game with Brugge, as a result of the side switching in formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-1-4-1.

Tactical analysis by footballbh.net noted Dennis’ versatility as well as other key aspects of his game which he has displayed at Watford:

"Dennis’ heat map is rather unusual for that of a striker. He seems to position himself outside of the box and drift wide.It does have to be noted that he has played some games at left and right-wing, however, the majority of games have been in the centre forward position … Dennis has also shown a great physical presence on the pitch, a desirable asset for any striker to have.He averages 33.2 duels every 90 minutes, winning 36.3% of these duels; not a bad average when considering he is battling against the greater physicality of defenders."

His physicality was clear to see in Watford’s 4-1 romp over Manchester United, in which he scored the fourth and provided two assists. After a ricochet fell to him on the edge of the box, he held off the challenge of Diogo Dalot easily to cap the final defeat of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s reign.

Despite the Hornets’ 4-2 loss to Leicester this past weekend, Dennis’ pace and composure in front of goal were on display as he pounced on a loose pass to score:

Watford have utilized Dennis across the entire front line but perhaps his most decisive performances have come through the middle since arriving in the Premier League.

He has started two straight games as Watford’s central striker and, speaking on his link-up with teammate Ismaila Sarr earlier in the season, Dennis told Watford’s website:

"We get along well in training when we play together and I know he’s going to be really important for me if I’m going to be in the number nine … I’m really happy with the combination. It’s a process, so I’m really happy we started in a good way and we keep working."

Wherever he has lined up at the start, Dennis has given opposing defenders no rest this season: he had nine shot-creating actions in just 65 minutes in the Aston Villa win, and his average of 0.8 goal-creating actions per game is the eighth-best in the Premier League, as per fbref.com.

His 225 pressures on opponents receiving the ball is also good for 19th-highest. Dennis is not afraid to add a little flair to his game either: he’s nutmegged an opponent seven times already this term, a stat bettered only by Raphael and Trincao.

After arriving as a low-risk gamble, Dennis has quickly cemented his role as a vital player for Watford and he is one of the first names on the team sheet at the moment.

He could well prove to be the season’s best signing, especially if his contributions are enough to help Watford remain in the Premier League.