Dublin was controversially excluded from the England 1998 FIFA World Cup squad, despite being the Premier League's joint top-scorer in the 1997–98 season, alongside Michael Owen and Chris Sutton. However, his exploits at club level were still attracting significant attention and in the autumn of 1998, he chose to move to Aston Villa for £5.75 million. In his first four games for the club, he would score seven goals including a memorable hat-trick against Southampton in only his second game for the Villa. As a result, he is one of only six players to score in the first four consecutive games for a Premier League club.