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

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

Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have both praised Arsenal forward Kai Havertz for his performance against Manchester City yesterday. The Emirates Stadium club lost 2-1 to Man City and will hope to bounce back following back-to-back Premier League defeats. Gunners manager Mikel Arteta was unable to outsmart Pep Guardiola in the end despite coming close to snatching a draw, but the outcome could have been different had Arsenal been more clinical. Havertz and his teammates had few chances to get a result but they did not do enough in the end 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) on the other side, and (Martin) Odegaard as well. That’s more offensive.” Arsenal are now only leading Man City with three points but have played a game more and will drop to second in the table if Guardiola’s men beat by at least two goals on Wednesday night. The title race is far from over as both teams are not guaranteed to win all of their remaining games. The Gunners are back in action at Emirates Stadium on Sunday when they host struggling , and a victory will be huge for them ahead of the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against .