An underappreciated quality in modern sport is Declan Rice’s availability, which has been quite excellent for Arsenal since he moved to North London.
It felt strange to watch a Mikel Arteta squad without Rice on Sunday against Tottenham Hotspur, even if Rice only spent a little more than a season playing for Arsenal.
Arsenal missed Rice, but they made up for it by giving up some control and utilising set pieces to their advantage—something that wasn’t necessarily Arteta’s intention.
In any case, Arsenal returned to N5 with three points, which was ultimately all that counted because Martin Odegaard was also missing.
And if you can ever be in position for a trip to the Etihad, Arteta’s team should be there after putting up a performance akin to that while away to Aston Villa a few weeks ago.
Kai Havertz outperforms Tottenham with a quiet masterclass.
Kai Havertz will still need to replicate his Sunday performance against Spurs even with Rice back in the lineup against Manchester City.
Havertz did a great job leading the press, dominating duels, and carrying out most of the attacking work for Arsenal.
From a goal-scoring perspective, Havertz wasn’t well rewarded, but Arteta will undoubtedly be very pleased with his effort.
The manager of Arsenal might have been tempted to use Leandro Trossard as a false nine and move Havertz up to the number ten spot, but he made few adjustments, and it worked out well.
That being said, the £65 million forward celebrated with the red half of north London on Instagram after winning the derby.
“Enjoy that one, gunners?” is the caption of a photo that Havertz submitted. and included the option to vote with the words “YEAH” or “YEAH!!!!”
