Kai Havertz heaped praise on his Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka after the pair starred in Saturday’s 3-0 Premier League win over Bourneouth.
The Gunners moved clear at the top of the table ahead of Manchester City’s evening game against Wolves following another convincing victory.
Saka got the ball rolling on the stroke of half time, converting a contentious penalty after Havertz had been felled by Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers.
Arsenal were made to sweat after the break as the visitors threatened an equaliser, but Leandro Trossard sealed the points with 20 minutes to go, before Declan Rice iced the cake with a goal deep into injury-time.
Saka has now scored 20 goals in all competitions this season and is the first Englishman to enjoy such a prolific campaign for Arsenal since Theo Walcott back in 2012/13.
Havertz is enjoying an increasingly fruitful relationship with the Hale End Academy graduate and believes England are fortunate to possess a player of his talents.
‘He’s unbelievable and shows it every week,’ said Havertz when asked to assess Saka’s contribution to Arsenal’s success this season.
‘I think he’s 21 or 22 and I’ve never seen a player like this.
‘England are very lucky. He’s hungry every day and if you see him in training he’s special.’
‘The level of consistency compared to last year is very similar,’ added a delighted Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, in his post match press conference.
‘Probably there are areas in the game where he’s become more effective. I see a different edge from him, the way he competes.
‘Not the way he plays, but the way he competes, and he loves winning more than three months ago, six months ago, a year ago and now that is something that hopefully is in his system.’
Arsenal must now hope City slip up in one of their remaining three fixtures if they are to snatch the title from Pep Guardiola’s relentless winning machine.
‘Very excited,’ said Arteta when asked how he felt ahead of his side’s last two matches. ‘We have done it for nine and a half months now so it’s two weeks to go.
‘We really want to get it done. We are closer to where we were yesterday and hopefully we can bring that title here.’
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