I don’t even want a day off – Kai Havertz ready to give his all in title chase

Kai Havertz insists he is not about to let up in his pursuit of delivering the Premier League title to Arsenal.

The Gunners remain one point clear at the top of the table following a 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

A Bukayo Saka penalty on the stroke of half-time followed by second-half goals for Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice saw off the Cherries to leave Arsenal at the summit heading into their final two games of the campaign.

The destiny of the trophy remains out of the their hands, however, as Manchester City have a game in hand and sit just on the shoulder of Mikel Arteta’s men.

Havertz, who has scored three in three and won the spot-kick which Saka slotted home to break the deadlock, is relishing the pressure of the run-in and is committed to seeing it through.

“I really enjoy every second,” he said.

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t even want to have a day off because you’re just so excited for the weekend and really want to work with the team, try to get everything out of us to be better prepared and we do that every single day.

“The other players especially make it quite easy for me so I enjoy my role, try to work hard in training and try to help the team.

“It’s going to be two tough games. We have a lot to play for, we have to win those games and then see where we’re going to go.

“Right now, though, the mood is good but we’re going to prepare now for the big game this week against Manchester United and hopefully win that as well.

“We feel the pressure as we need to win the last games. Then when you don’t score, and it gets closer to half-time, obviously the nerves are coming but we tried to leave them behind us, and thanks to Bukayo for scoring his goal and making it a bit easier for us.”

Bournemouth were left fuming over the decision to award the penalty as Havertz went down after a challenge from goalkeeper Mark Travers.

They also saw a goal chalked off after another contentious call but despite conceding twice after the interval, head coach Andoni Iraola was pleased with the changes from his side after they had been outclassed in the opening 45 minutes.

“We talked at half-time, we could lose the game obviously but we had to be much more aggressive, take some risks at the back and play a higher line,” he said.

“We had to do better in the duels and take a bit more of a risk and I liked the first minutes of the second half and put them under pressure.

“We had chances but we couldn’t put them under pressure at the end, we understand all the narrative around the game and I think they deserved to beat us.

“I hope we can recover bodies for Brentford (next weekend), players that are not very far (from being available) and can help us, we want to finish with a strong performance in the final home game of the season.”