Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has argued that Arsenal have a “huge advantage” in the Premier League title race for two reasons.
Arsenal are coming off another great weekend asthey have increased their lead at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners edged out Crystal Palace at the Emirates on Sunday to win their seventh game in a row across all competitions, while Man City and Liverpool suffered losses against Aston Villa and Brentford.
Man City are not the team they once were under Pep Guardiola, while Liverpool are severely lacking balance following their £400m+ summer overhaul and will take a while to hit their stride this season.
Arsenal, meanwhile, arguably have the most complete squad in the Premier League as they have quality options in every position after spending £250m on signings in the summer.
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And Shearer thinks the Gunners have a “huge advantage” over rivals in the race for the Premier League title because of two key factors.
“You’re going to get games like this that come after a European game in midweek and you just need to get the result,” Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast.
“It wasn’t as comfortable as Arsenal would like and it wasn’t a great performance but they won the game.
“The huge advantage Arsenal have over Liverpool, Man City and whoever else thinks they can challenge is the defence and the set-pieces.
“They’re in the driving seat because of they’re ability to just win a game even when they’re not playing well and that’s a result of the set-pieces and how good they are at the back.
“That’s why they’ve got such a clear lead at the top of the Premier League at the moment.”
On Arsenal’s rivals slipping up over the weekend, Shearer added: “It shows how hard this league is. The players aren’t allowed their phones so I hope not [that they didn’t know].”
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Before this weekend’s matches, Man City boss Guardiola revealed the “reality” with Arsenal and Liverpool this season.
“In the Premier League, I have the feeling now that Arsenal is not going to drop much points,” Guardiola said.
“So that is the reality. I have that feeling with Arsenal, with Liverpool as well.
“Now Liverpool lost their last games – not in the Champions League in Frankfurt – but I saw the game against United, they had incredible chances to win the game. So I think Liverpool remain one of the main favourites to do that.
“The distance, three, four points at this stage is nothing,” he added. “I always had the feeling that both teams and maybe another one, they will lose few, few points. That’s why we have to be there.”