A penny for Tom Lockyer’s thoughts. Still restricted to a spectator’s brief, the Luton Town captain could do nothing but watch on helplessly as his team-mates were given the runaround by a dominant Arsenal side at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. A 2-0 scoreline flattering the visitors more than it did the hosts in a very one-sided encounter.
At least Lockyer, his future in football still uncertain after suffering a cardiac arrest in December, is getting used to the new-found punditry role he has taken up during his absence from the game.
And it was from his new vantage point in the press box that the Luton skipper spotted the reasons why Kai Havertz – unfairly a figure of fun amid the more casual sections of football supporters – is one of the first names on the Arsenal team sheet these days.
And not just because of the assist the German supplied for Martin Odegaard, the Arsenal skipper lashing home the opener after 24 minutes following a perfectly-weighted Havertz pass.
Kai Havertz shines as Arsenal beat Luton Town
“He’s really at home now,” Lockyer says about the £71 million signing from Chelsea, speaking to TNT Sports (3 April, 8pm). “The amount of times he did double movement today where he went short off (Teden) Mengi and then spun in behind, and he would have got the ball if it was played to him.
“It might not get picked up by the cameras. But they’re the sort of movements that even if he doesn’t get it, he might get the next one. Then he’ll keep going and get the next one, and eventually something will happen to him.
“When someone works as hard as that, making those selfless runs, then something will fall in the end.”
Havertz might not be the classic centre-forward some Gunners fans are hoping for – Arsenal are keen on Ivan Toney, Dusan Vlahovic and Viktor Gyokeres, HITC understands – but the club’s record with him leading the line speaks for itself.
Gunners top of the Premier League
Havertz now has seven goal contributions in his last six Premier League games. And what he lacks in presence he makes up for with the sort of technical ability, vision, work-rate and flexibility which frequently gets the best out of his team-mates, Odegaard the latest to benefit from his vision and composure in the final third.
Arsenal, doubling their lead via an own goal on the stroke of half-time, remain top of the table, though Liverpool can overtake them by beating bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United at Anfield tonight.
Manchester City are still within touching distance, meanwhile, after Phil Foden’s hat-trick saw off Aston Villa 4-1.
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