Alan Shearer believes Arsenal have a ‘huge advantage’ over Premier League title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City due to their defensive record and set-piece threat.
Mikel Arteta’s side extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points with a narrow 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The Gunners were far from at their best, perhaps a result of their midweek excursions in the Champions League, but Eberechi Eze’s thumping strike against his former club proved decisive.
Arsenal’s clean sheet was their fifth in a row in all competitions and their tenth this season in 13 games.
Shearer says that defensive solidity gives Arsenal a ‘huge advantage’ over title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, who both slipped up again at the weekend.
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Defending champions Liverpool are outside of the top-four following a fourth successive league defeat, their latest setback coming against Brentford on Saturday night.
Man City have enjoyed an impressive run over the past two months but that was ended by Aston Villa on Sunday, who beat Pep Guardiola’s side 1-0.
Arsenal were already title favourites before the weekend but those results have only strengthened belief that the Premier League trophy will be heading to north London for the first time since 2004.
Shearer admits Arsenal ‘weren’t great’ against Crystal Palace but was impressed by their ability to get the job done while their rivals for the title continue to stumble.
‘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.’
Club World Cup champions Chelsea, tipped by some pundits to mount a title challenge, also lost on a dramatic weekend in the Premier League, with Sunderland earning a famous win at Stamford Bridge.
Reacting to Arsenal’s rivals slipping up after the win over Crystal Palace, Arteta said: ‘It shows how hard this league is. The players aren’t allowed their phones so I hope not [that they didn’t know].’
Surprising results over the week mean Bournemouth are Arsenal’s nearest rivals in the Premier League, with Sunderland up in third just a few months following their promotion from the Championship.
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