Soccer Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Arsenal - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - November 6, 2022 Chelsea's Kai Havertz reacts after Arsenal's Gabriel scored their first goal Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
TalkSport’s Tony Cascarino has slammed Kai Havertz following his performance in Chelsea’s latest Premier League clash.
The Lowdown: Poor showing
At Stanford Bridge on Friday night, Havertz failed to have a shot on target and won only one of his six ground duels for Graham Potter’s side, while he was given a 5.8 rating on Sofascore.
The German is the Blues’ top scorer in the league so far this season, producing five goals in 19 games in the 2022/23 campaign.
That is more of a testament to how lacklustre Chelsea have been in the Premier League than Havertz’s goalscoring ability, as they’ve only scored 22 times all season.
The Latest: Cascarino slams Havertz
Speaking on TalkSport, Cascarino tore into Havertz’s display against Fulham and doesn’t believe he should be leading the line for Chelsea.
He stated: “He could lead the line way better. I just don’t think he’s a natural centre-forward.
“Who’s the top goalscorer in the Premier League this year for Chelsea? Kai Havertz. What’s his ratio? One in four.
“One in four for a leading club who should be trying to win things and challenge for the title is not enough.
“That is nowhere near the level of return a manager needs. Graham Potter selects him so often and I have great reservations about Graham Potter’s style.”
The Verdict: Summer changes
He lost the ball 10 times, lost seven duels and missed two big chances against Fulham (Sofascore).
We believe that Havertz is not the man to lead the line for Chelsea, and that one of their other strikers should start up front next season.
Since joining the Blues, he’s not scored more than 10 goals in a Premier League season. If the club want to contend for titles once again, our viewpoint is Havertz is not going to deliver those goals.
Fortunately, the west London outfit does have a new recruit on the way in the summer, with Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig set to join the club this summer.
Our view is that he has a great chance of being the man who will score bundles for Chelsea judging by his current goalscoring rate.
Nkunku ranks in the top 4% for non-penalty goals scored by any forward in Europe’s top five divisions.
Premier League legend Thierry Henry admitted that he loves to watch the Frenchman play when he’s been at RB Leipzig when talking to CBS Sports (via TeamTalk).
The Frenchman was on fire with the Bundesliga before being struck by injury, so they’ll hope he can transfer that over to England’s top flight.
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