Former Arsenal star Jermaine Pennant has warned Mikel Arteta that he will have to make an unwelcome change on Sunday.
Arsenal face some major challenges heading into Sunday’s North London Derby encounter with Tottenham Hotspur.
The Gunners will be missing a number of important players when they take on their fierce local rivals. Mikel Arteta may well find himself having to cope without all of Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and club captain Martin Odegaard.
Odegaard was recently spotted on crutches, having sustained a nasty-looking ankle injury whilst on international duty with Norway.
With Rice also suspended, and Merino sidelined, Arteta will have to overhaul his midfield against Spurs.
There are several options for constructing his side in the middle of the park available to the Spanish coach. For example, Ethan Nwaneri could be handed his first start, but it would be a risk to throw the 17-year-old in at the deep end in such a manner.
Alternatively, Kai Havertz could be pulled back from his role as a striker and integrated into the midfield trio.
Jermaine Pennant calls for Kai Havertz to replace Martin Odegaard
Jermaine Pennant and Jason Cundy recently discussed the predicament now facing Arsenal on talkSPORT.
Cundy asked: “Who plays in that advanced role? Who is the one that is in that supporting role for Havertz?”
To this, Pennant replied: “Is he [Havertz] going to drop back? I think he’s going to have to.”
This will not be a popular suggestion with the North London faithful, though, as the former winger suggested, Arteta is running low on alternative options.
Why Arsenal fans won’t want Havertz in midfield vs Tottenham
Arsenal fans have seen the German in the middle of the park plenty of times before. When he first joined the North London club, Arteta tried to reinvent Havertz as a midfielder.
However, the former Chelsea man was bereft of confidence at the time, and struggled to adapt to the new role. He did not truly begin to impress for the Gunners until he was moved up front midway through last season.
The 25-year-old is more confident now, and may well be able to do a decent job in midfield, but it certainly isn’t where he is at his best, and he has started this season in fine form as a striker. With Jesus struggling for fitness, it would be an inopportune moment to move him.
However, Arteta has warned that Havertz may have to play a midfield role at times this season, and such a time now looks to have arrived.
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