Kai Havertz, who married his long-term girlfriend Sophia a few weeks ago in Bergisch Gladbach, has been at the Gunners since the summer of 2023. The former Leverkusen player started with the Bayer 04 U13 squad, turned professional and won his first international cap here and then, after ten years under the Cross, he moved on to the Premier League in 2020 to play for Chelsea and he scored the winner in the Champions League final in 2022.
Havertz quickly became a key player at Arsenal. The offensive player scored 13 goals last season for the Premier League runners-up who were involved in an exciting three-way race for the league title alongside Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal finished second two points behind City and Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool were third.
Under coach Mikel Arteta, Arsenal had the best defence in the Premier League conceding just 29 goals in 38 games and they had the second best attack with 91 goals scored with Manchester City (96) top. The most prolific goalscorer for the Gunners was the England international Bukayo Saka with 16 ahead of Kai Havertz (13) and the Belgian Leandro Trossard (12).
Arsenal have strengthened their already outstanding defence built around the two central defenders William Saliba and Gabriel as well as goalkeeper David Raya who was in the winning Spain squad at Euro 2024: Riccardo Calafiori joined Arsenal from Bologna at the start of last week. The Italy international was one of the outstanding players in the Azzurri squad at the European Championships in Germany. Calafiori can play as a central defender as well as on the left side of defence and in holding midfield. The 22-year-old Roman not only stands out as a tough tackler but is also as a technically and tactically gifted player on the break with a great desire to get up the pitch.
Talking about the Euro 2024 shooting star, the target for a lot of top European clubs, Arsenal coach Arteta said: "He gives us additional strength to improve our defence. Riccardo has a big personality and a great character – and also specific skills to make us stronger on the way to winning trophies."
The Gunners' midfield is controlled by captain Martin Ödegaard, the England international Declan Rice and Jorginho, Calafiori’s teammate in the Azzurri line-up. Kai Havertz plays in attacking midfield or up front. In addition to the former Leverkusen player and the already mentioned Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard the two Brazilians Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli are also tasked with finding the back of the net. Arsenal may venture into the transfer market again in the next few weeks to strengthen the attack.
Ahead of the coming campaign, the club from North London went on a tour of the USA where they played two friendlies against Premier League rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. While Arsenal beat United 2-1, they lost by the same scoreline few days later in the match against Liverpool in front of a crowd of 69,879 at the Lincoln Financial Field. Kai Havertz scored the goal for the Gunners.
Coach Mikel Arteta, who ended his playing career at Arsenal in 2016, has been the head coach at the club since 2019. Before that, he was assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City for several years. Arteta and Bayer 04 coach Xabi Alonso know each other well. Both played together in the youth set-up at the Basque club Antiguoko and later for the Spain U21 side.
Last season, ahead of the quarter-final exit against Bayern Munich in the Champions League (2-2; 0-1) he congratulated his "good friend Xabi" and former player Granit Xhaka on winning the Bundesliga title. Xhaka played for the Gunners for seven years where he won the FA Cup twice and the Community Shield. Wednesday's match will be special for the Werkself midfield maestro.
SC Paderborn 07, the second-placed team in Bundesliga 2, face the Werkself in the second round of the DFB Pokal. Although Paderborn have won six games in a row, Bayer 04 have never lost to SCP. That will hopefully continue on Wednesday, 29 October (kick-off: 18:00 CET) with Patrick Ittrich the man with the whistle. The experienced referee will have to make do without the support of VAR at the Home Deluxe Arena. Read on for further information on tonight’s game in the matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), has announced the six nominees for the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for October - including Werkself player Alejandro Grimaldo. Black and Red fans can vote from now until Sunday, 2 November (23:59 CET).
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A Leverkusen player is a step closer to winning the UEFA Women's Nations League tournament after the semi-finals, and another Werkself player secured her nation's place in League A. A trio also impressed for the German U23s, while another made her debut for the U19s. Read on for updates on the most recent international appearances of the six members of the Bayer 04 Women’s first team squad.
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Can the Werkself build on their successful run in the Bundesliga in the DFB Pokal? "We're ready for the next good game," said coach Kasper Hjulmand confidently. Ahead of the second-round clash at SC Paderborn 07 on Wednesday, 29 October (kick-off:18:00 CET), the Dane spoke about the Bundesliga 2 title-contenders' impressive recent record as well as options in the centre of midfield, Schick's return and the goalkeeping situation for the cup tie.
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SC Paderborn 07 have made an excellent start to the season under new coach Ralf Kettemann. The current second-placed side in Bundesliga 2 have won their last six matches. The East Westphalians now head into their home game against the Werkself in the second round of the DFB Pokal on Wednesday, 29 October (kick-off: 18:00 CET) brimming with confidence. The lowdown on our next opponents
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