More bad news: Mikel Arteta
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz is set to miss the north London derby with a new muscular injury.
The German has had his fair share of fitness problems this season, missing a large chunk of the campaign after undergoing surgery on a knee injury sustained in August.
He came back into the side in January and has been in fine form, tallying four goal contributions in his last four appearances, but is now set for another spell on the sidelines.
Standard Sport understands Havertz has suffered a minor muscular injury which could keep him out for a number of weeks.
Crucially, he is expected to miss the north London derby against now-managerless Tottenham on February 22.
Kai Havertz has been in fine form of late
This latest injury is a considerable blow for Mikel Arteta, who will hope to have a full complement at his disposal as he presses on in search of the Premier League title.
He is already sweating over the fitness of Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, with Max Dowman and Mikel Merino also facing lengthy spells out.
The Spaniard has made no secret of his admiration for Havertz, who joined Arsenal from Chelsea in 2023. He has been deployed in a deeper role of late, playing off Viktor Gyokeres in a setup which seems to have got the best out of both men.
Read More
Haaland scores as Man City rout Fulham to keep pressure on Arsenal
Arsenal XI vs Brentford: Confirmed team news and predicted lineup
Arsenal injury update: Trossard, Saka and Odegaard latest return dates
Rediscover your adventurous side on an exotic getaway
Speaking after Havertz found the back of the net against Kairat, scoring for the first time in nearly a year, Arteta said: “The team knows how important Kai is for us, and how he can help the team to be much better and take the team to a different level.
"The fact he was able today to do that after such a long time is very impressive. Bring him on board and make sure that now we use him in the right way because he's going to be very important."