Arsenal -Manager Mikel Arteta says he loves the challenge of losing his most important forward options to injuries, but thinks that losing Kai Havertz “waited an accident to happen” because of the load on players at the top of the Premier League.
Havertz is out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury and joins Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka on the sidelines.
Arsenal has Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli available – all of which regularly play wide.
It is still to be seen who will be used in a central role in the coming weeks.
A medical update about Kai Havertz.
– Arsenal (@ARSENAL) February 13, 2025
Arteta said: “We had a great camp in Dubai, charging, training, connecting with nature and different environment. Then the injury to Havertz happened in an unexpected way, it is a big blow because of the injuries we have.
“Fortunately we have experienced a lot this season, it is the challenge I have. We love it. Let’s see what the team was made of.
“If a team in this competition loses four players in their front line, I know what the answer will be.”
Arteta said that Saka and defender Ben White were back in the early stages of the training, but are not available to Leicester this weekend.
Arsenal tried to bring Ollie Watkins into during the January transfer window, because they were already light in attack, but Arteta says that his side has been given the head of their last loss.
He said: “With the loads and minutes it is inevitable, it is an accident that waits. This season it is its accumulation, the stress. Is it bad? The schedule is certainly demanding, and for explosive players it becomes a problem.
“The intensity has clearly gone to a different level, the demands we set to players is increasingly higher, it is the result of this. Long-term injuries, especially muscle and tendon-related, increase.
“We train less than ever. We have less time for training. The problem is that the muscles are then transferred, so the muscles and tendons are not willing to absorb the stress and have no time to recover. “
