Both Kai Havertz and Declan Rice would be in danger for Arsenal's Champions League clash against Bayern Munich |
Both Arsenal's Kai Havertz and Declan Rice will walk a tightrope during Tuesday night's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich.
The two teams face off at the Emirates, where it will be exclusively Gunners fans after UEFA banned Bayern fans from attending for launching fireworks onto the pitch against Lazio in the last round. As a result of their good form in the league, Arsenal are the favorites heading into the clash, but progression to the quarter-finals is not likely to be easy.
A headache for Gunners manager Mikel Arteta ahead of kick-off comes from the fact that two of his most important players, Havertz and Rice, are one yellow card away from being suspended. If either of the two summer signings are booked on Tuesday night, they will be banned from playing in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
Arsenal have a tough task ahead in both matches and the thought of going to the home of the German giants without Havertz and Rice is likely to fill some Gunners fans with fear. However, Bayern itself faces a similar problem.
If Alphonso Davies or Leon Goretzka received yellow cards, they would also be out of action for the second leg on March 17. It is important to note that all yellow cards accumulated during the course of the competition will be erased after the quarter-final stage, to prevent players from missing the final due to too many yellow cards.
Yellow cards have been a problem for Havertz, especially this season, in what has been an impressive debut campaign for the Gunners. The German international has eight yellow cards in the Premier League, 11 in all competitions.
He managed to avoid a booking during the 3-0 win at Brighton on Saturday, meaning he is now unable to serve a league suspension for too many bookings. However, Arteta admitted that he was surprised by Havertz's disciplinary record.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's clash at the Amex, the Arsenal boss was asked if he was surprised by Havertz's yellow card tally and admitted: “Yes. If you told me another player maybe not, but with him yes.
“I'll have to go back and look at those yellow cards, but if they're yellow cards then we'll have to improve because we don't want our players to have that many because we're the best in the league at that. It is something to improve.”
