Arsenal showed they’re ready to win the Premier League for the first time since 2004 following their impressive win over Tottenham Hotspurs in the North London derby. The Gunners are now eight points above second-place Manchester City.
The Gunners have won 15 matches out possible 18 and have only lost to Manchester United this season.
Although many pundits doubt if Arsenal can maintain their 8 points lead on top of the Premier League, former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer believes Mikel Arteta’s side are favorites to win the Premier League.
What did Alan Shearer say?
On BBC Sports, he said, “Arsenal have to be favorites to win the Premier League now. It is very clear they are going to take some shifting from the top of the table.
“The only thing we don’t know about Mikel Arteta’s side yet is how they will cope with being frontrunners in the second half of the season. But it doesn’t look like their inexperience of being in a title race is fazing them at the moment.
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“Their superb win over north London rivals Tottenham on Sunday was further proof of that.
“In the first half, we saw their attacking intent and creativity, pressing Spurs to keep them penned in their own half and then capitalizing on their mistakes.
“Arsenal had more defending to do in the second half, but they were just as good without the ball, and, when Tottenham did get through, Aaron Ramsdale put in a brilliant goalkeeping performance to keep them out.
“I was really impressed with their whole team, from front to back, and it looks like they have got the required steel – plus the bit of bite and hunger – that they will need in the next few months.
“To be eight points clear after 18 games is a terrific achievement by this Arsenal side – and it’s fully deserved too.
“Now they have to try to stay there, and many of their players have already learned the hard way how quickly things can change.
“They fell away in the final weeks of last season, missing out on a top-four finish and a return to the Champions League when it was within their grasp.
“But since the start of this campaign I’ve been saying this looks like a different Gunners team in terms of their mentality, and Arteta and his coaching team have another year’s experience too.”
Liverpool and Chelsea risk missing out on a top-four finish this season. The two Premier League giants are struggling this season.
On the chances of Chelsea and Liverpool finishing in the top four, he said: “I suspect Chelsea will improve after their poor spell in the past few weeks, as their players come back from injury, but Liverpool look miles off it at the moment.
“At the moment, Jurgen Klopp’s side are terrible at the back, with no intensity when they press.
“They look a shadow of the side that we are used to seeing at the top end of the table, and I don’t see things getting better any time soon – it is going to be a long hard season for them.”
