Kai Havertz is doing something no other Premier League striker can match this season
Kai Havertz is expected to lead the line for Arsenal at the Stadium of Light tonight.
The German striker is looking to add to his three goals this season and continue what is shaping up to be the best season of his Arsenal career.
It’s been well established just how much he brings to Mikel Arteta’s team, beyond the goalscoring. He is simply a much better technical player than his competition, Viktor Gyokeres, and gets the best out of those around him.
And now there’s another stat that perfectly encapsulates why Arteta prefers Havertz leading the line.
No Premier League striker covers more ground than Kai Havertz
According to Squawka, Havertz has covered more distance than any other striker in the Premier League so far this season — 32.9km across his appearances. No other forward in the division has matched that work rate output.
Of course typically, a centre-forward plays constantly in central zones, wanting the ball behind defenders, and is judged on the number of goals scored. But Havertz is a fundamentally different kind of striker.
Along with Martin Odegaard, he is Arsenal’s primary defensive initiator — the first line of the press, whose off-the-ball movement sets the entire front five into motion.
And he likes to drift wide to combine with the wingers, which can drag centre-backs out of position, opening pockets of space for the likes of Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis to exploit in the half-spaces.
He’s also an incredible outlet who allows David Raya to play long occasionally. Havertz is a great aerial target and can either control it down, or flick it on intelligently, giving Arsenal’s midfielders the second ball.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer talked about this after the Chelsea game. Havertz may not live for goals the way Erling Haaland does, for example, but in the big moments, he delivers.
He has nine goals in his last 11 starts for both club and country, including that goal against PSG in the Champions League final. And of course, the goal against Chelsea; he always scores against Chelsea.
But the fact that on top of all of that, he outworks every other striker in the division makes you realise how lucky Arsenal are to have such a rare tactical weapon in Havertz.
Make no mistake, he’ll be key against Sunderland tonight. This is a game they dropped points in last season, but Havertz was out injured. They should get more joy against Regis Le Bris’ compact low block with him up front, wearing defenders down.