Mikel Arteta believes Kai Havertz is benefitting from feeling the love at Arsenal and has challenged the forward to maintain his red-hot recent form.

Germany international Havertz endured a slow start to his Gunners career following a £65million summer switch from Chelsea but has registered five goals and four assists in his last seven Premier League outings.

The 24-year-old was instrumental in his title-chasing side’s 3-0 win at Brighton on Saturday, doubling their lead following Bukayo Saka’s first-half penalty before setting up Leandro Trossard to complete the scoring.

Arsenal are in a three-way tussle for the title with Liverpool and Manchester City and manager Arteta knows Havertz is central to their chances of ending the club’s 20-year wait to be champions.

“He’s certainly having a huge impact on the team,” said Arteta.

“I think his overall performances have been really good and now his numbers in terms of goal contributions, are really, really high. He needs to maintain that level.

“He’s got some fantastic players around him. We have tried to create the right environment for him, which I think is very important for any player.

“We have given him confidence, hopefully we’ve given the love that he needs.

“He has the appreciation from the rest of the players and the staff at the club and now our supporters for sure.”

Havertz managed only one goal and one assist in his first 19 Arsenal appearances in all competitions, prompting doubts about the decision to sign him.

He now has nine league goals in 23 starts this season, in addition to five assists, and is thriving playing as a central striker.

“A lot of the time players decide where they have to play, and we can have certain ideas, but then you see certain relationships and some things flow,” said Arteta.

“And when it flows, you have to let it go, and I think Kai at the moment is flowing and he’s feeling really comfortable there, the rest of the team is comfortable with him there and things happen naturally.”

Arsenal impressively ended Brighton’s 12-match unbeaten home record to register a 10th win in 11 top-flight games in 2024.

Their final seven fixtures included tricky away trips to Wolves, north London rivals Tottenham and Manchester United.

Arteta feels a standout display at the Amex Stadium gives the Gunners increased belief for their remaining away matches.

“Yes it does, because this is a really, really tough place to come and win in the manner and the form that we’ve done it,” he said.

“So hopefully yes, and we can carry on doing what we’re doing.”

Brighton’s hopes of a second successive season in Europe were dealt a blow by the comprehensive defeat.

Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi believes his team are paying a heavy price for a lengthy injury list containing Kaoru Mitoma, Solly March, James Milner, Billy Gilmour, Adam Webster, Jack Hinshelwood and Evan Ferguson.

“We can lose against Arsenal at home,” he said.

“We can analyse the performance, we can analyse the improvement of our players and we couldn’t say anything because if we play without Mitoma, March and all the other injured players we have to accept the result, keeping the focus on the last games we have to play.”