Forget William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, one lethal partnership has actually been carrying Arsenal this season

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal’s relative success this season has been built on a sturdy defence, while their attack has flattered to deceive at times.

William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have formed an impressive partnership at the heart of the Gunners’ back four over the last few years, and this duo has been as imperious as ever this term.

No Premier League side has conceded fewer goals than Mikel Arteta’s team this term, although Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea have all scored more than the North Londoners.

Arsenal are trying to sign a striker this month to alleviate this issue, and they ought to accelerate this process, as a key statistic has revealed that the breaking up of an effective partnership could continue to impact Arteta’s outfit’s effectiveness in the final third.

Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz’ partnership had been carrying Arsenal’s attack

Bukayo Saka is out until at least March after undergoing hamstring surgery last month, and Arsenal have certainly felt the loss of their talisman in recent weeks.

The Gunners have failed to win games against Brighton, Newcastle, Manchester United and Aston Villa, scoring just four goals across these matches.

Aside from losing Saka’s own qualities, a potentially under-appreciated knock-on effect from the Englishman’s injury is how it’s affected Kai Havertz’ form.

Havertz was berated for his display against Manchester United in the FA Cup and has looked like a shadow of the player that was thriving near the start of the season.

This downturn in performance levels for the German is largely a result of losing Saka to the right of him.

The duo had struck up Arsenal’s most lethal attacking partnership this term, combining for six goals across all competitions.

Saka has assisted five Havertz goals directly, while the striker has repaid the favour once.

The Hale End academy graduate had perfected his in-swinging cross into Havertz from the right, whilst he’d also developed an innate understanding of the former Chelsea man’s movement.

While Saka and Martin Odegaard not playing significant minutes together due to injuries certainly impacts the data around the goal combinations, the Norwegian hasn’t been able to lift Havertz’ performance in the way Saka was able to.

• READ MORE: Arsenal simply must complete late transfer for Premier League star who Ian Wright loves before the window closes

As shown in the table above, no other combination has come close to replicating the output Saka and Havertz were able to elicit together.

These two players’ relationship was somewhat carrying Arsenal’s attack when both were fit, and Arteta will need to find new combinations to reignite a flailing offensive unit.

Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz could be Arsenal’s new dynamic duo

Having trusting partnerships at the back is undoubtedly essential, but every team needs to boast a frightening combination in forward areas as well.

Leandro Trossard and Havertz have always shown glimpses that they’re on the same wavelength, and Arteta should lean into that going forward.

The Belgian’s ability to create separation from the defender he’s up against and fire in dangerous crosses has led to goals for Havertz against Ipswich and Aston Villa in recent matches.

While Arsenal search for marginal gains all over the pitch, getting Havertz and Trossard close together and combining could be an extremely effective solution to the Gunners’ attacking impotence.