Mikel Arteta reacts after Kai Havertz receives another booking in 2-0 win against Luton Town
Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table temporarily following a 2-0 victory over Luton Town at Emirates Stadium last night, and they will be desperate to win the remaining eight games of the 2023-24 campaign to boost their chances of winning the title.
Jurrien Timber is the only player unavailable for the Gunners right now as the other injured stars are back in action, but manager Mikel Arteta could soon receive another big blow during the run-in.
Kai Havertz picked up another yellow card last night and will now be suspended for two games when he gets his tenth booking.
The Arsenal boss is worried about it given the impact the Germany international has had recently, and he believes it is an area the former Chelsea star must work on.
“Yeah, we have to be careful,” Arteta replied when asked about Havertz’s regular bookings, expressing his surprise.
“Hopefully he doesn’t get booked anymore because with the 10th we know what happens.
“I am surprised! That’s a different player. I don’t know, I will have to go back and look at those cards, but it’s something to improve. We don’t want our players to have that many and I think we are the best in the league on that. Something to improve.”
Since yellow cards picked up during the Community Shield do not count towards the rest of the season, Havertz is actually on his eighth booking and not his ninth as widely reported last night.
However, it is hard to see him escaping two bookings in the coming games and having him suspended for two matches will be a huge blow.
Arsenal return to league action on Saturday with a trip to Amex Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion, with games against Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth, Manchester United and Everton next.
They need all their top players available right now as the title could be decided on the final day of the campaign, and Arteta will hope Havertz can manage to avoid two more bookings before the trip to Old Trafford next month.
