Kai Havertz is making life at Arsenal very hard for Viktor Gyökeres right now

Kai Havertz has enjoyed a brilliant start to the 2026/27 season for Arsenal, but his top form is making life in the red half of North London very hard for Viktor Gyökeres

The German has started in each of his side's first three Premier League games, as well as the Community Shield victory over Manchester City, scoring three goals in that period of time while managing to keep his Swedish counterpart at bay.

Mikel Arteta seems to have nailed Havertz down as his first choice up front and while that is brilliant with the German performing so well, Gyökeres will be struggling as a result.

Kai Havertz is making life at Arsenal very hard for Viktor Gyökeres

Each season, the Community Shield is viewed as the traditional curtain raiser and is usually used as an opportunity by the competing managers to see how they want to line up their team for the forthcoming campaign, and Arteta is no different.

The Spaniard opted to start Havertz at striker for the clash with Man City and that paid off as he scored the second in a commanding victory over last season's title rivals, seemingly eanring him the first-choice role for the foreseeable future.

Arsenal's number 29 continued up top in the Premier League opener against Coventry City and he once again found the back of the net as he finished a quick team move, meeting Riccardo Calafiori's low cross with a neat finish into the corner.

Despite a relatively quiet performance in the 1-0 triumph at Aston Villa, he retained his spot for the London derby clash with his former side Chelsea and he repaid Arteta's faith with a great all-round performance that saw him level matters with a brilliant finish from the edge of the box on the way to the Gunners securing a 2-1 win.

Now looking at Gyökeres, the Swede's story is very different to that of Havertz at this early stage of the season. He was brought off the bench for the final 15 minutes of the Community Shield before being an unused substitute in his side's first two league games. The number 14 was given a chance when he was introduced with 12 minutes to play against Chelsea, but he failed to make an impact.

The 37-cap Sweden international had just five touches during his time on the pitch and was guilty of fouling Maxence Lacroix to concede a free kick when he was in a good position to launch a quick attack in Arsenal's hunt for a third goal. It's safe to say that he didn't take the small chance he had to impress.

There were signs of Arteta's preference to play Havertz over Gyökeres last season even despite the former's struggles with injury throughout the campaign. Of the 12 Premier League appearances the German made last term, seven of them were starts with four of those being at the expense of his Swedish counterpart up front.

Havertz was preferred in the eventually decisive 1-0 win over Burnley in the penultimate match and he scored the winning goal with the Gunners being crowned league champions the following day. He was also named as the starting striker for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, and he scored the opener after just six minutes.

Jamie Carragher even supported Arteta's decision to continually start Havertz, claiming that one of the best players in the world would be needed to displace him and that "Gyökeres is never taking Havertz's place."

The ex-Liverpool man stated that the choice not only lies with how good they are in attack, but also with what they offer the team, labelling Havertz as a player who does plenty to help out his side in both attacking and defensive situations.

Given his versatility, the Germany international has shown during his time with the Gunners how well he can help the team out when not glued to the striker position, whereas Gyökeres struggled to do that last season, with his best moments coming with his striker instinct in the penalty area.

At this point in time, the Swede is going to find it very difficult to displace Havertz as Arsenal's first-choice striker. The German is clearly giving the manager what he wants and for as long as this form continues, he will be the number one option to lead the line.

There shouldn't be any concern over Gyökeres' future though, as there was during the summer transfer window. With the Champions League and Carabao Cup matches coming this week and next, Arteta will have to rotate and that will be the perfect opportunity for the striker to show what he can do.

Gyökeres will still have plenty of opportunities to prove his worth between now and the end of the season, but Havertz in his current form is making life at Arsenal very difficult for his Swedish counterpart. It wasn't so long ago that Gunners fans were crying out for any kind of striker, but they've now got two very good options fighting it out for the starting spot.

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