The Gunners have bounced back from a disappointing run of form to win their last three games in all competitions and sit second in the English top flight ahead of Wednesday’s contest in north London.
But Arne Slot’s rampant Liverpool hold an imperious nine-point lead over Mikel Arteta’s men after 13 games and have established themselves as the firm favourites to get their hands on the trophy.
Champions Manchester City, meanwhile, have endured an unbelievably poor start to the campaign in defence of their title triumph last year and are languishing down in fifth, 11 points off top spot.
‘We’ve been in this race, already now, last year and the year before the team was in there as well so we know how tough it is,’ Havertz told Sky Sports while previewing Arsenal’s upcoming clash with United.
‘I think we are still in the first part of the season so a lot of things can happen.
‘For me, personally, I just feel how much tougher the Premier League gets year by year and then you see now Liverpool, all of a sudden, performing on the highest level week in, week out.
‘But there are still lots of games to play, lots of points to give, so we’re going to be ready for the fight, for sure.
‘We want to give our best week in, week out to get three points and just compete with the best.’
Havertz believes United pose a different kind of threat under Ruben Amorim, with the Portuguese looking to continue his unbeaten start in the league.
‘Erik ten Hag was there for a couple of years and, obviously, when a new manager comes in, they change their style of play, they change their system, they change their players so there are going to be a lot of different things on the pitch now,’ the Arsenal and Germany forward added.
‘But I think for us, the main thing is to focus on ourselves. We believe in our strengths and we want to play our best game.
‘When we play our best game, I think nothing can stop us and that’s what we want to do.’
Havertz scored his fifth goal of the Premier League season – and his ninth in all competitions – as Arsenal put West Ham to the sword with a 5-2 victory at the weekend.
The Gunners had five separate players on the scoresheet at the London Stadium, with Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka also netting in Saturday’s breathless London derby.
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