Four ways Arsenal can line up without Kai Havertz after injury blow | OneFootball

Gunners faces a reshuffle in attack after another major injury blow

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Mikel Arteta is facing a centre-forward crisis, with the news that Arsenal may be without both of their recognised strikers for the rest of the season.

With wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli also injured and not expected back until next month, Arteta will have to get creative in reshaping his front-line ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Leicester.

Here are his options to lead it…

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Leandro Trossard

Perhaps the safest and certainly the most likely option.

Trossard led the line away to Girona in the Champions League when Havertz was rested last month and played centrally just off the German during a run of games last autumn, when Arsenal shifted to a 4-2-2-2 system to accommodate Martin Odegaard’s absence from midfield.

The Belgian was also used as a striking option soon after joining the Gunners in the spring of 2023, assisting five goals in three starts.

Though primarily playing as a winger since, the 30-year-old did enjoy a surprisingly good scoring record when occasionally playing up-front last season, with four goals in six starts - albeit two of those came against Burnley.

Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Raheem Sterling

Another winger who has played fleetingly at centre-forward across the course of his career is Sterling.

According to Transfermarkt.com, the Englishman has made 62 appearances in the position across his spells at Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, scoring 25 goals and laying on 10 assists in that time.

He has also played centrally for England with success - most notably during the 2018 World Cup in Russia - albeit playing off Harry Kane in that instance, rather than as a lone front-man.

Arteta is yet to deploy him in that role, though.

Sterling’s threat as a striker in the past has been largely down to his ability to stretch the play with runs in behind, but on this season’s evidence, he does not quite have the pace of old.

Pushing the 30-year-old through the centre would at least allow Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri to play on their favoured wings.

Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Sterling, Trossard

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Ethan Nwaneri

Though an attacking midfielder or winger by trade, Arteta is on the record as touting Nwaneri as a future centre-forward and may be tempted to accelerate plans for the teenager’s development.

The 17-year-old is in far better form than Sterling, having scored seven goals already this season despite only sparing opportunities.

Asking such a young player to lead the line for the rest of the season, though, would be a risk, particularly since the majority of his exposure there in youth football has been as a false-nine, which would require a rejig of Arsenal’s system.

Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Sterling, Nwaneri, Trossard

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Mikel Merino

The wildcard option could see midfielder Merino used as an emergency centre-forward.

Signed from Real Sociedad last summer, the Spaniard is yet to make a significant impact at the Emirates and is not part of Arteta’s first-choice midfield, made up of Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Odegaard.

Unlike the trio of forward alternatives, Merino has no significant experience of playing up-front, but is perhaps most similar to Havertz in terms of his physical and aerial attributes.

The 28-year-old’s inclusion would also go some way to countering the loss of Havertz at both attacking and defensive set-pieces.