‘We would’ve seen’: Pundit says Man City would’ve dominated Arsenal if Arteta started £65m player

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Arsenal beat Manchester City in the league for the first time in eight years on Sunday.

The Gunners were over the moon with their win at the weekend, but, it has to be said that they had a slice of luck during the game.

They weren’t dominant by any stretch of the imagination, and their only goal came from a deflection.

However, every single player did their jobs to perfection, but according to Craig Burley, speaking on ESPN, the game could’ve been very different if Arteta made a small tweak to his team.

Indeed, Burley believes that Manchester City would’ve utterly dominated Arsenal if Kai Havertz had started this game.

City would’ve dominated if Havertz started

Burley shared his verdict on the £65m man.

“It was a smart move from Arteta to get Partey or Jorginho in there to get a second traditional midfielder in there for Odegaard to roam a bit more. If he tried to go for Havertz in there who hasn’t worked or someone else and left Rice on his own, we would’ve seen a lot more domination from City,” Burley said.

Harsh

It’s very harsh to single out one player like this after a game where he didn’t even start.

We understand that Havertz may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but to make him a hypothetical scapegoat in a scenario that didn’t even happen is a bit much.

Havertz wasn’t suited to this game, hence why he didn’t start, but he did make an impact off the bench, and, for once, he deserves a bit of praise after this performance.

Maybe Arsenal would’ve been dominated if Havertz had started, but Arteta was smart enough to pick the right line-up and help his team get over the line.