After his sprightly cameo against Kairat Almaty on Wednesday night, Kai Haverz is available for selection again for Arsenal, the German’s return boosting an attack that finds itself under the microscope despite the team’s strong position. The most intriguing question right now for Mikel Arteta might be who, if anyone, Havertz is best placed to replace.
Havertz scored one and assisted another in the first 45 minutes of a 3-2 win over the Kazakh side and Arteta confirmed on Friday that the German international is available for consideration for the trip to Leeds United, which could be his first start of the Premier League season. “He is ready,” said Arteta. “Obviously he started the other day, it’s been a long period and now we need to manage that load and the games that we’re going to select for him to start.
“There was no reaction to that, I think it was super positive, you could see straightaway the impact that he can have in the team. So yes, he’s ready.”
Arsenal have certainly missed Havertz, who has played just 137 minutes of football since suffering a major hamstring injury in early February. He had barely returned from that before suffering a shock knee injury on the opening day of this season, forcing Arteta to place an enormous burden on new signing Viktor Gyokeres. That should ease before too long although there may be those who question whether the Swede should be the one to make way.
After all — and this should come with a bold, all caps caveat that *THIS WAS AGAINST KAIRAT* — Gyokeres and Havertz dovetailed quite nicely last time out. Anyone who saw the latter in a Bayer Leverkusen shirt will have no doubt that he can excel playing off a center forward and plenty who have seen Arsenal lately would be quite taken with the idea of playing two strikers when they are struggling to score with one. Havertz too did not plan on playing center forward when he left Chelsea for Arsenal. Might a deeper role be one that gets the Gunners sparking after a three game winless run in the Premier League?
How to watch Leeds United vs. Arsenal
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 31 | Time: 10 a.m. ET
- Location: Elland Road — Leeds, United Kingdom
- TV: USA
- Odds: Leeds +450; Draw +290; Arsenal -182
It is an idea that Arteta is evidently open to. Asked how Havertz might help his other strikers, the Arsenal manager said: “More than the competition, which I understand, we have different characteristics with the nines. But Kai can also play in different positions. His main quality is that he makes you better, the way he moves, communicates with you, gives you information, moves around. He’s a very difficult player to mark and especially he opens up a lot of spaces for the rest of the players, so I think they’re going to be very happy to have him around.
“The other night, we saw a lot of positive things. Obviously, it will depend on the opponent and how they behave, what formation they use, but there are options that are really, really positive to the team. Whether he plays as a nine, as an attacking midfielder, and the other combinations, whether it’s at the start or throughout the game, I think it’s something very good and it can impact the game in a really powerful way.”
Those comments are worth considering given that the only player to have come under the microscope in a more sustained fashion that Gyokeres is Martin Odegaard. It is worth stating that Arteta would have no truck with such a debate. Asked for the second press conference in a row about his captain’s form he said, “I have no doubt that that will come.”
Still Odegaard has been a polarizing figure since the start of last season and is one of a string of attackers who could do with upping their goal output, with just one in the Premier League so far. Waiting in the wings, Eberechi Eze has had few chances since an off day away to Aston Villa and Havertz has now played two of his three post-injury games in the sort of spots his skipper might occupy.
A bigger worry for Odegaard might be the two chances created in his last three Premier League games, all of which ended early for him through substitutions. Equally, the four before that he looked back to his old self, two assists and 13 chances created. As has so often been the case with Arsenal this season, it can be hard to take a long view of things, to not view every mini run of games as the new normal in north London.
The same is true of Havertz’s return to Premier League contention. It is undoubtedly nice to have and could well make Arsenal a better side. But Havertz is not riding to his team’s rescue. Arsenal don’t need that.
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