{"id":63138,"date":"2025-08-06T17:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/63138\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T17:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:54:12","slug":"viktor-gyokeres-told-hes-actually-worse-than-kai-havertz-in-one-key-area-at-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/63138\/","title":{"rendered":"Viktor Gyokeres told he’s actually worse than Kai Havertz in one key area at Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kai Havertz will have to fight for a place in Arsenal\u2019s starting XI after the arrival of Viktor Gyokeres. <\/p>\n

One complaint that Arsenal<\/a> fans are tired of seeing is that Havertz is not a reliable number nine<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s hope that the recurring talking point will lessen this season, as Gyokeres\u2019<\/a> arrival hands Mikel Arteta<\/a> the seasoned goalscorer his team needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t, however, necessarily mean that there\u2019s no room for Havertz<\/a>, as it\u2019s been reported that Arteta is set to change his game plan to suit Gyokeres<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"KaiPhoto by Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC via Getty ImagesKai Havertz is better at attacking crosses than Viktor Gyokeres<\/p>\n

Havertz and Gyokeres could play together across Arsenal\u2019s front line, with the possibility there for Arteta to change his formation to deploy two strikers. <\/p>\n

Whether the Arsenal manager<\/a> will make the change will become clear at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite questions already being asked about Gyokeres\u2019 suitability to the Premier League<\/a>, Arsenal finally have a free-scoring marksman in their ranks, but the Swede doesn\u2019t have it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Latte Firm podcast, former Arsenal player Adrian Clarke shared his belief that Havertz is better than Gyokeres in one area. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I would say is having the two guys on the touchline, hugging it and putting balls into the box hasn\u2019t borne fruit enough, has it? <\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t got on the end of enough crosses. In truth, Gyokeres isn\u2019t as good at attacking crosses as Havertz. Gyokeres wants service slid down the sides of defenders.\u201d <\/p>\n

Clarke drew attention to the opposing strengths of both players, noticing that Gyokeres is better with the ball on the ground, while Havertz can be a target man in the box. <\/p>\n

Standing at six foot three, Havertz has shown Arsenal what he can offer in the air, which is something his new potential strike partner needs to work on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gyokeres needs to improve his heading\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though Gyokeres is only an inch shorter than Havertz, the 27-year-old isn\u2019t anywhere near as prolific in the air as he is on the ground. <\/p>\n

Such was evident last season in the Portuguese top flight, as Arsenal\u2019s new number 14 failed to score a single header.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Viktor Gyokeres\u2019 24\/25 league goals36 right foot3 left foot0 headersViktor Gyokeres\u2019 Liga Portugal goals for Sporting CP 24\/25<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that the summer signing didn\u2019t have the service, racking up 2.82 expected goals from headers last season, as per Fot Mob<\/a>, he just wasn\u2019t able to convert the chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gabriel Magalhaes could teach Gyokeres a lesson or two in the art of heading the ball, but the striker\u2019s weakness only strengthens Havertz\u2019s claim to remain in the starting XI. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kai Havertz will have to fight for a place in Arsenal\u2019s starting XI after the arrival of Viktor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[26975,403,99,5763],"class_list":{"0":"post-63138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-kai-havertz","9":"tag-soccer","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-viktor-gyokeres"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}