‘Don’t believe he should start’: Pundit says Arteta should drop 24-year-old player for Man City game

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Arsenal face Manchester City on Sunday in what could well be the biggest game of the season so far.

The Gunners head into this game with a few selection headaches, mainly in the attack as they try to deal with the potential absences of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.

Mikel Arteta will have to seriously reshuffle his attack for this game, and one potential idea that has been touted is playing Kai Havertz up front.

The German is capable of playing as a centre-forward, and if Gabriel Jesus moves out wide that move could make sense.

However, speaking on ESPN, Steve Nicol has stated that Havertz shouldn’t start as a striker. In fact, he’s even said that the 24-year-old shouldn’t start at all in this game.

Havertz shouldn’t start

Nicol gave his verdict on the former Chelsea man in this game.

“He can throw a spanner in the works and play Havertz at centre-forward instead of Nketiah. I doubt that, and I doubt that Havertz will start, I certainly don’t believe he should start, but it’s down to how stubborn Arteta is because if Havertz doesn’t start everyone will be pointing the finger and saying signing him and playing him the way he has been has been a mistake,” Nicol said.

Not been good

This is Arsenal’s biggest game of the season, and they need to start their best XI if they are going to win here.

With all due respect, Havertz just hasn’t been good enough this season, and starting him in these games is still something of an experiment to see if he’s a fit for this Arsenal side.

However, you can’t afford to experiment in matches like this, and it may be for the best if Havertz comes out of the team for this match in order to give Arsenal the best chance of winning.