After opening his account for 2024/25 on game one against Wolves, Kai Havertz believes his good form from pre-season has helped fill him with confidence heading into the big kick-off.
The German striker netted nine goals and produced six assists in the final 14 league matches last term, and after netting twice at Euro 2024 he also found the net in two of our last three friendlies heading into this season.
And despite the summer pause, he looked as sharp as ever against Wolves, heading home a Bukayo Saka cross before returning the favour for his teammate later in the contest to get us off to winning ways.
Reflecting on his goal, he said: “When [Bukayo] gets those balls in those positions, then you know he’s a big threat. He can put the ball wherever you want it, and I think the timing of the ball and the run was perfect, so it was a good goal.
“It’s always nice to score as a striker. You always want to score, contribute with goals and assists and so I’m very pleased.
“When you get a good feeling, especially in friendly games, it’s always nice. I think we were, in general, happy with the pre-season and we especially played well in the last two games. That prepares you quite well for the Premier League.”
Despite the comfort of a two-goal cushion at half-time, the result didn’t tell the whole story as our visitors caused us plenty of issues throughout the middle third of the encounter, and David Raya played his part in keeping us in front.
But Kai feels that will stand us in good stead heading into our next fixture - a trip to Aston Villa next Saturday, and excitingly feels there is much more to come from him and his teammates in the weeks ahead.
“I think we can be happy with the win and three points,” he added. “It was a tough game, but I think that was clear – the first game of the season is always tough, so 2-0 is a good result for us. There’s some room to improve, and we’re going to work on that.
“I think that’s how we all felt after the final whistle, there was a lot of work, especially in the second half. We defended quite deep at times, so I think in total, we’re happy not to concede a goal, score two goals and it’s a good result for us.
“[Villa] is always a tough match and we’re going to be hungry to win this game, especially after last season. We’re going to do everything to win it.”
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