Arsenal suffer huge injury blow before Brentford and Tottenham in new title race twist

Arsenal have been handed a major injury blow before their clashes against Brentford, Wigan, and Tottenham, which could impact the Gunners in their hopes of landing silverware.

Arsenal have been handed a fresh injury blow as Kai Havertz is set for a spell on the sidelines with a muscular injury, ahead of a run of important games.

That’s according to a report from The Athletic, which claims that the German forward is set to miss out on the clash against Tottenham in the North London Derby, as well as clashes with Brentford, Wolves, and Wigan as a result. It comes as another concern for Havertz, who missed the first half of the season through a knee problem.

That was sustained in the early clash with Manchester United, with a procedure required to help the 26-year-old get back to full fitness. His eventual return to the team has helped improve the attacking options available to Mikel Arteta, but that looks set to be impacted once again.

The manager was reliant on Viktor Gyokeres early in the campaign, with Gabriel Jesus recovering from a knee injury, combined with Havertz’s absence. While questions persisted over how well he fits into the Premier League with Arsenal, the striker has since been helped by the recent returns around him.

Havertz has made three league appearances this season, starting in the previous two clashes against Leeds United and Sunderland. The latter of those was marked with an assist, and some hope that he could kick on and show the quality he has in the side since joining the club.

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That came in a deeper midfield role, freeing up Gyokeres to roam up front, as he bagged two goals for the Gunners against Sunderland. Explaining the decision to play Havertz in that role, Arteta said: “Well, I suppose with the kind of game that we expected as well and the way they play and the type of threat that we wanted to create as well with him and Gabby in and around the three central defenders.

“So, yeah, something as well that we have to use because we have very different qualities from Kai to Martin or to Ebs or another attacking midfielder.”

For now, though, it seems as though Havertz’s qualities won’t be available for Arteta over the coming weeks across all competitions. That is a blow the night before Arsenal take on Brentford in the league, with the match being a key one in how the title race could pan out.

Manchester City’s late win over Liverpool, along with a potential triumph over Fulham, will see the gap at the top down to just three points. Arsenal have an opportunity to restore that lead to six points, before they take on Wolves next week, as well as Tottenham in the North London Derby.

All three games represent a chance for the Gunners to keep up the pace at the very top, but they will need to be at their attacking best to do so. Sandwiched between all of that is a clash in the FA Cup against League One outfit Wigan Athletic, where Arteta may be tempted to rotate slightly.

Havertz joins an injury list that contains a few key stars who are doubtful for the upcoming clashes in the title race. Mikel Merino has a fractured bone in his foot, which looks set to keep him out for a while, with surgery now completed and the road to recovery now underway.

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Max Dowman is nearing a return to action after an ankle injury that has kept him out for a few months, but he isn’t quite ready yet. Then there are doubts over Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Leandro Trossard, following minor injury issues for them in recent weeks.

With Havertz the latest to join that list, it remains to be seen exactly how long he could be missing for, during an important part of the season.