REUTERS/Andrew Boyers
Mikel Arteta has a difficult decision to make up front ahead of Arsenal's Community Shield clash with Manchester City on Sunday, and his selection could offer a clear indication of his plans for the season ahead.
The Gunners take on City in the annual season curtain-raiser at the Millennium Stadium, in what will be Arteta's first encounter with the Citizens without Pep Guardiola in the opposite dugout. Guardiola called time on his spell with the north-west club, which lasted a decade, at the end of last season, and Enzo Maresca has arrived as the revolutionary tactician's successor.
While the game in Cardiff will offer insight into what City will look like under the Italian, there will also be plenty of clues as to how Arteta intends to evolve his team moving forward.
One of Viktor Gyokeres or Kai Havertz will lead the line for the north Londoners, and it really ought to be the latter.
Kai Havertz Must Be Arsenal's First Choice Striker Next Season
Kai Havertz with the Premier League trophy
Arsenal opted to splash £63 million on Gyokeres last summer after the Swede had enjoyed two outstanding goalscoring seasons at Sporting CP. The idea was supposedly to provide Havertz with cover and competition, but due to persistent fitness issues for the German, Gyokeres ended up playing the bulk of the minutes.
There were only a handful of short periods throughout the season where both players were fit, so it never became truly clear how Arteta viewed the pecking order in this position.
While Arsenal could sign a striker this summer, with links to Julian Alvarez still circulating, it looks more likely that they'll allocate most of their resources to acquiring an elite left-winger. Thus, Gyokeres and Havertz are likely to be Arteta's primary centre-forward options for another campaign, and it should become clear pretty quickly who the Spaniard favours.
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In fact, it should be obvious from Sunday's Community Shield. Both players have played identical minutes throughout pre-season, so fitness shouldn't be a concern for Arteta when it comes to selecting his striker for the game in South Wales.
Havertz should be the man who gets the nod. Not only does the former Chelsea man provide more in his overall game than his Swedish counterpart, combining more efficiently with his teammates, holding the ball up better and pressing more effectively, but his goalscoring attributes are actually similar.
Gyokeres is lauded as an elite goalscorer, but the stats from his debut season in north London don't reflect that. He netted 17 non-penalty goals across all competitions, just two more than Havertz managed in the season prior, but the Germany international sustained a season-ending injury at the beginning of February that year.
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Statistical Comparison (League Only)
Stat
Appearances
Non-Penalty Goals
Assists
Shots per 90
Non-Penalty Expected Goals per 90
Key Passes per 90
Expected Assists per 90
Pass Accuracy
Passes Completed per 90
While he may not be as fruitful in front of goal as Arsenal fans might like, Havertz could reignite what became a stale attack at the end of last season, with his intelligent movement and ability to involve himself in build-up play.
If he starts against City, he should then start for the majority of the Gunners' most important matches for the remainder of the season.
All Statistics via FotMob — correct as of 15/08/2026