Gary Lineker urges Mikel Arteta to drop Arsenal star in Champions League

Ex-England striker Gary Lineker (Picture: YouTube) Gary Lineker says Arsenal are ‘a bit short up top’ and would benefit from Viktor Gyokeres coming out of the team for the Champions League knockout game against Bayer Leverkusen. Arsenal’s hopes of winning a first Champions League title are on the line on Tuesday night as they face Leverkusen in the second leg of their last-16 tie. The Gunners were far from at their best in the first leg in Germany and needed a late Kai Havertz penalty to take a 1-1 draw back to the Emirates Stadium. Gyokeres started the first leg after improving his goalscoring record since the turn of the year but was subbed off and replaced by Havertz after struggling to make an impact. The two Arsenal forwards then traded places for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Everton, with Havertz starting before being replaced by Gyokeres, who came off the bench to break the deadlock. Lineker still ‘prefers’ Havertz leading the line for Arsenal, however, and believes the German should start ahead of Gyokeres in the Champions League. ‘I look at Arsenal and it’s hard to be too critical because they’ve done so well this season,’ the former England striker said on The Rest is Football podcast. Arsenal forwards Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres (Picture: Getty) ‘But I still think they’re a bit short up top. I prefer Kai Havertz up there, personally, if he can get and stay fit. He’s more of a false nine but he gives them a bit more I think. ‘It’s one to watch but Arsenal are going better than everybody else right now, they’re in a fabulous position in terms of being in all four competitions.’ While Arsenal warmed up for Bayer Leverkusen with a crucial win over Everton, the Bundesliga side help Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw last time out. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta updates media on player injuries ahead of Bayer Leverkusen clash","duration":"T8M30S","thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/03\/16\/14\/107178411-0-image-a-1_1773672990026.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-03-16T14:57:11+0000","description":"Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber are out, Leandro Trossard is in for the second leg against Bayer Leverkusen.\n\nThe two teams are currently tied at 1-1 after Havertz's late equaliser helped Arsenal salvage a point in the first leg in Germany.","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/03\/16\/2803355262059889208\/480x270_MP4_2803355262059889208.mp4","height":270,"width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Asked what he expects from Leverkusen in north London, Arteta said: ‘Watching them play against Bayern Munich at the weekend, very similar. ‘Really well coached, clear structure. We know what we have to do in front of our crowd. Hopefully we are going to do it. ‘A lot of factors will contribute for us to be in the quarter-finals. We need to have every element in our favour to achieve that. ‘They have a lot of quality individually in a lot of areas of the pitch, and as every team they have their strengths, their weaknesses, and we will try to target them.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.