Kai Havertz, Arsenal’s versatile striker, is completely stuck in a brutal dip in form, battling a baffling new offside trend right when the Gunners are staring down a massive test against Liverpool at Anfield. If last season taught Arsenal anything from their Anfield trip, it is the absolute necessity of a killer in the final third to break open a game. Failing to do that means leaving themselves vulnerable to the kind of magic that bamboozled them last August, even if Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored that brilliant free-kick winner, is a doubt for Liverpool this Sunday.
Anfield’s Gauntlet and Arsenal’s Missing Firepower
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, calls them “moments players,” the ones who decide these huge games. And for him, this clash could not have come at a worse time. Bukayo Saka, who is their top shot taker, goal scorer, and expected goals compiler, is out for more than a month with a thigh injury suffered in Munich. Noni Madueke might miss the trip with an ankle injury. Christos Tzolis has just returned to training but has not played for his new club in over a month. And then there is Max Dowman, that precocious youngster Arteta actually trusted to turn things around on Merseyside, now serving the first of a three-game ban for a controversial red card. Look, Arsenal has depth, no doubt, and there will still be game changers out there even if all those guys are sidelined. But let’s be real, this is an occasion where a first-choice center forward, one who is absolutely ON FIRE, would be incredibly handy. And right now? Kai Havertz is not that. Twelve games in, this has been perhaps the weirdest season yet for Havertz since he first landed on English soil back in 2020. At his best, he absolutely blew his former club Chelsea away. At his worst, though, we are talking about a totally wasteful performance in that EFL Cup defeat at Fleetwood, and this baffling new tendency to slip offside. What in the world is going on?
The Numbers Don’t Lie, and Arteta Isn’t Blaming Injuries
You might think, when a player tanks from peak to trough in a few weeks, it is all about injuries. Havertz did return early from the last international break after straining a muscle, and he went straight back into the lineup, playing an hour against Leeds and featuring in every game since. That is six games. And in those six games? Zero goals and just one assist. For most of the minutes he has been on the pitch, he has struggled to link Arsenal’s attack the way he usually does, let alone even threaten the opposition goal. But get this, Arteta is not letting him off the hook by blaming the muscle strain. “There’s nothing to do with that,” Arteta said straight up. “It’s true that in terms of the numbers, we have dropped those numbers but he certainly had the chances as well to play.” He definitely had those chances, especially against Fleetwood, where he tallied seven shots for 0.72 expected goals. That sounds okay on paper, but seriously, when you are chasing a game for 70 minutes against a League Two defense, you need way more than “adequate.”
This Sunday’s match against Liverpool is absolutely massive. Arsenal desperately needs a decisive finisher to step up. Can Havertz finally break this brutal slump when it matters most, or will his frustrating form continue to haunt them at Anfield?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
Leave a Reply