Kai Havertz proves Arsenal may be just fine without Bukayo Saka after Ipswich win | OneFootball

Kai Havertz ended 2024 on a high as he scored the only goal in Arsenal‘s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town on Friday night.

The Gunners are now second in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Liverpool, albeit having played a game more. There was a minor period of worry as Arsenal drew two games in a row, scoring just one goal.

Even when Arsenal returned to winning ways in a 1-5 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, there were more fears as Bukayo Saka went off injured. He’s now been ruled out for “many weeks” by Mikel Arteta, and Arsenal are being linked with signing a replacement in January.

But who needs Saka when Arsenal have Havertz?

Havertz has been trailed as a centre forward and central midfielder for Arsenal this season, though the German is fluid with his pressing. Against Ipswich, Havertz started in midfield, with Gabriel Jesus leading the line after his fine run of form.

But that didn’t stop the German from attacking the Ipswich box. In fact, his deeper starting position seemed to have confused Ipswich’s defenders, who left him relatively unmarked in the box in the 23rd minute. Leandro Trossard sent a ball across goal and there was Havertz to tap it home.

It was Havertz’s 12th goal across all competitions this season as he continues to thrive under Arteta. In fact, only Mohamed Salah (19) and Erling Haaland (18) have scored more goals across all competitions among Premier League players this season.

Seven of those 12 goals have come in the Premier League, more than any Arsenal player. He sits two ahead of Saka. Havertz has also scored three goals in the Champions League and two in the EFL Cup.

Havertz has also outscored Saka for Arsenal across all competitions in 2024, netting his 21st goal against Ipswich. Going into the final game of the year, Havertz was always going to have the opportunity, level on 20 goals with the injured Saka.

We should have known he’d score too, with the German netting in six of his last seven Premier League games against newly-promoted sides. Each of Havertz’s last 11 Premier League goals have been scored in London too.

It’s testament to the work Havertz has put in to improve his goalscoring across the calendar year as a whole. Third for Arsenal for goals in 2024 was Leandro Trossard on 15, so Havertz and Saka were in a minor league of their own.

Against Ipswich, Havertz hit the target with both of his shots, posting an xG of 1.08. He had eight touches in the opposition box and completed 88.9% of his passes, helping to link things up in the attack.

Overall in 2024, Havertz has averaged 0.48 goals per 90 minutes across all competitions, with 2.41 shots and 1.14 efforts on target. He has a good shot placement ratio too of 1.14, improving on his xG per 90 of 0.44 to 0.5 xG on Target.

And, of Havertz’s 21 goals in 2024, eight have been match-winners. That’s another high among Arsenal players, ahead of Saka’s five match-winning goals and Trossard’s four.

A word on Myles Lewis-Skelly too. The 18-year-old was played out of position against Ipswich, starting at left-back to fill a gap. And he didn’t look out of place at all.

Lewis-Skelly misplaced just one of his 58 attempted passes, boasting the best accuracy among players to have attempted at least 10 for both sides (98.3%). He created two chances and completed two take-ons, despite being slightly more reserved than the likes of Jurrien Timber. Defensively, though, Lewis-Skelly also made two tackles and won seven duels, the joint-most for Arsenal.

The win was Arsenal’s 26th in the Premier League in 2024, their most in a calendar year under Arteta. They’ve also won more Premier League games and kept more clean sheets than any other side in 2024. And they’re now unbeaten in their last 42 Premier League home games against promoted sides, now just one off Chelsea’s record set between 2001 and 2015 (43).