has responded to rumours of an sickness bug after was left out of the squad who beat on Wednesday.
Havertz was a surprise omission on New Year’s Day given he had started and scored in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory against Ipswich Town on December 27.
Arteta has confirmed that the German did not feature in the due to illness.
It marks the first time since Havertz joined Arsenal from Chelsea in the summer of 2023 that he has missed a match over illness or injury.
‘With Kai [Havertz] it was obvious,’ Arteta said in his post-match press conference.
‘He wasn’t feeling well at all and he had very clear symptoms so stay away from it, put him in a car and go back to home.’
Quizzed on general illness within Arsenal’s squad and how disruptive the bug was in the team, Arteta added: ‘Yes [there is illness] on the pitch and off the pitch as well.
‘But these things happen, I mean, in this period there’s always things; throat infections, viruses.
‘So I tried to delay the line-up as well as far as possible because you can get up in the morning and have a surprise unfortunately.
‘I hope [players will be fit for Saturday’s match against Brighton]. It’s nothing serious but they weren’t in the ideal condition to play today.
‘I leave [protocol for illness] to the doctor. Obviously it’s in relation to the symptoms that they have.
‘I think [Havertz will be fit for the Brighton game]. I think he will recover very quickly.’
Asked if any other players have had to isolate due to illness, Arteta said: ‘I don’t think so.’
