Micah Richards and Gary Lineker praise Arsenal star Kai Havertz for his performance against Manchester City | OneFootball

Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have both praised Arsenal forward Kai Havertz for his performance against Manchester City yesterday.

The Gunners lost 2-1 to Man City and will hope to bounce back following back-to-back Premier League defeats.

Manager Mikel Arteta was unable to outsmart Pep Guardiola despite coming close to snatching a draw, but the outcome could have been different had Arsenal been more clinical.

Havertz and his teammates had several chances to get a result, but they did not do enough to leave Etihad with something.

“I thought Kai Havertz was excellent,” Richards said on the latest episode of The Rest is Football podcast, to which Lineker replied, “me too”.

“I thought he held the ball really well, his movement – yes, you look at the chances that he probably should have scored, but to go with (Noni) Madueke on one side, (Eberechi) Eze on the other side, and (Martin) Odegaard as well. That’s more offensive.”

Arsenal are now only three points ahead of Man City, but have played a game more. They will drop to second in the table if Guardiola’s men beat Burnley by at least two goals on Wednesday night.

The title race is far from over, as neither team is guaranteed to win all of their remaining games.

The Gunners are back in action at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday when they host struggling Newcastle United.

A victory will be huge for them ahead of the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid.

Missing out on the title again after coming very close will be a hard pill to swallow for Arsenal, and they have to find a way to start firing on all cylinders again.

They have a week to rest and recharge ahead of their most important games of the season, and having their injured stars return would be a huge boost.