Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta dismisses concerns over Kai Havertz's form

The German international partnered Viktor Gyokeres in Wednesday's EFL Cup meeting with fourth-tier Fleetwood Town, which ended in disappointment for the Gunners as they suffered elimination following a penalty shootout defeat. However, Arteta has refused to be overly critical of his players after the setback.

The Arsenal boss also dismissed suggestions that Havertz's reduced attacking numbers could be attributed to previous injury problems, maintaining that the forward continues to offer valuable qualities within the team's overall setup.

"No, there's nothing to do with that. It's true that in terms of the numbers, we have dropped those numbers," Arteta explained regarding Havertz's fitness history.

"But he certainly had the chances as well to play, and that kind of form and that kind of efficiency with the front players, it's very common."

"Full trust in him and what he's doing."

On the shock defeat to Fleetwood, he added: "What happened in midweek is probably the beauty of this game... You play that game 100 times, you know the results 99% of the times.

"But it's football and it happens, something magical and they went through.

"So I need to have a perspective on that, and obviously analyse but don't judge the players too hard, especially without understanding the context of it."

Arsenal will travel to Liverpool for a Premier League clash on Sunday evening. 

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