Arsenal midfielder Kai Havertz was unable to continue his recent run of goalscoring form against Liverpool but the Gunners remain top of the table heading into Christmas.
Gabriel Magalhaes gave Mikel Arteta’s side an early lead but they were pinned back by Mohamed Salah who got the better of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Speaking on The 2 Robbies Podcast, Robbie Mustoe was analysing the performances of the Arsenal players.
On a weekend when champions Manchester City weren’t in action due to their participation in the Club World Cup, both Arsenal and Liverpool would have hoped to extend their lead over Pep Guardiola’s side.
Arteta’s side got off to the perfect start thanks to Gabriel Magalhaes’s header, but ultimately a draw was a fair result.
They may have even been fortunate that a penalty wasn’t given against Martin Odegaard for a potential handball in the area.
Kai Havertz was given the nod in Arsenal’s strongest midfield against Liverpool but failed to have a huge impact.
Off the back of several good performances in recent weeks, he couldn’t make the required impact against one of the Gunners’ title rivals.
Havertz fails to deliver for Arsenal against Liverpool
Assessing the German international’s performance, Mustoe said: “Kai Havertz has had a little flurry, he’s scored a couple of important goals.
“I like the way that he runs when Gabriel Jesus – he’s another one by the way, he’s not doing enough to be part of a champion team – I do like the way that when Jesus goes wide or deeper, Havertz goes forward.
“Other than that from Kai Havertz, apart from keeping it very simple on the ball, I still want to see more from him. Now, I know he’s scored some goals recently.”
Havertz has had a mixed start to life at Arsenal, but getting the nod to play against Liverpool shows the faith that Arteta has in him.
The 24-year-old is undoubtedly talented but finding the right role for him in the Arsenal side has been a slight issue.
He needs to work on his link-up play with Gabriel Martinelli in the left half-space.
While the young Brazilian can often produce moments of magic, he’s often too isolated which makes it too easy for opposition defences to double up on him.
This in turn puts more pressure on the likes of Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka to create meaningful chances.
His teammates have been impressed with his performances this season, but for some fans, the jury is still out.
Arteta should keep the faith in Havertz
Against Liverpool, Havertz played the full 90 minutes but only completed 24 passes to his Arsenal teammates.
Considering one of his key roles should be linking play between Arsenal’s deeper midfield players and Oleksandr Zinchenko and the front three, he needs to be more involved.
Mustoe mentions he likes how Havertz rotates with Gabriel Jesus when the Brazilian drops deeper, but Havertz only managed one shot all game.
He was also bundled over in the box but it would have been harsh to have given a penalty against Liverpool.
Despite his height, Havertz failed to win a single aerial duel but did manage to win five of his ten ground duels.
However, Arsenal have spent a large fee on Havertz and their system is still evolving after the departure of Granit Xhaka.
He’s shown in the last few games how effective he can be when he clicks with his teammates and Arteta needs to keep faith in the German international.
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