And so Arsenal march on. Seven games into the new Premier League season and the Gunners remain unbeaten, having gone into the latest international break just a point behind Liverpool at the summit and level with champions, Manchester City.
Even without talismanic skipper Martin Odegaard, the north London side have continued to pick up positive results in recent weeks, having also powered to a convincing 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
It’s not been plain-sailing – not least due to red cards for the likes of Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard – but the Emirates outfit have scrapped and fought to maintain this string of positive results, proving to their title rivals that they are here to stay at the top of the table.
The bedrock of Mikel Arteta’s success remains that of Europe’s “best central defensive pairing” – as hailed by ex-England defender Matthew Upson – in the form of William Saliba and Gabriel, while Hale End hero Bukayo Saka continues to terrorise with seven assists in as many league games.
It would be foolish, however, to overlook the impact of another of Arteta’s “main players” – as the Spaniard has himself described him – with former Chelsea man Kai Havertz having quietly emerged as a vital figure for the club in 2024.
Havertz's start to the season
The midfield experiment has been abandoned, and Havertz is looking all the better for it.
Plucked from Stamford Bridge for a hefty £65m fee in the summer of 2023, it’s fair to say that the German’s early months in an Arsenal shirt with rather uninspiring, as he chipped in with just four goals and one assist in the league before Christmas.
In truth, it wasn’t until late February and early March of this year that the silky striker truly began to find his feet after shifting to a number nine berth, having scored in four successive league games. He hasn’t looked back since.
After ending last term with 13 league goals to his name, the former Champions League winner has continued that red-hot form into the new campaign, registering six goals in just ten outings in all competitions.
While once looking like a player who couldn’t find a home on the pitch, the 25-year-old is now a centre-forward in every sense, shown no more so than his brave header in the win over PSG.
As that effort indicated, Havertz is now a “real threat around the box” – as per his manager – with the hope being that he can now be supplied with regular, quality service, even in the absence of Odegaard.
That could then call for Arteta to make a bold tactical tweak in the coming weeks, with there perhaps an argument for the aforementioned Saka to take on a new role moving forward.
How Havertz could be made even better
On the early evidence, the records could tumble this season, with Saka already likely to have an eye on Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne’s all-time tally of 20 assists in a Premier League campaign.
Not just a goalscorer, the Englishman is marking himself out as a more than capable creator too, thus raising the question as to whether his strengths could be better utilised in a number ten berth, rather than on the flanks.
That is the verdict of data analyst Ben Mattinson, at least, who has suggested that the 23-year-old’s “output would skyrocket” if he was to make that switch to a central role, as it would prove “much harder for teams to double up on him and give him no space too”.
A possible “game-changer” of an alteration – in the view of Mattinson – this different role could then help to make Havertz even more effective in and around the box, as he would be able to link up more directly with Saka through the middle.
Saka’s ability to thread a pass and tee up Arsenal’s main marksman has already been showcased this season as he has remarkably created 12 ‘big chances’ to date, while averaging 3.9 key passes per game. To put that into perspective, the most ‘big chances’ created by a player in the division in the whole of 2023/24 was Mohamed Salah, with 22.
Rank
Player
‘Big chances’ created
1.
Bukayo Saka
12
2.
Cole Palmer
8
3.
Dwight McNeil
7
4.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
5
4.
Leif Davis
5
4.
Bryan Mbuemo
5
4.
Bernardo Silva
5
4.
Youri Tielemans
5
There may be those questioning why then should the academy graduate be relocated if he is already thriving on the right flank, but allowing him to operate in even closer proximity to Havertz could prove a masterstroke for both parties.
On current form, the latter man is proving that he can provide that clinical touch in front of goal. If supplied with regular service by Saka in a new number ten berth, who knows the goal tally he could end up with come May.
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