BBC pundit says Arsenal still the ‘team to beat’ in title race

Arsenal are still the team to beat in the Premier League title race, according to former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer.

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Arsenal fans were disappointed to come away with a draw from their game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, despite playing away from home against the side sitting second in the Premier League table going into the weekend.

With Moises Caicedo picking up a red card in the first half of the match, many supporters expected that the Gunners would go on to win the game. Given that didn’t happen, some have started to raise doubts about Arsenal’s ability to get the results they’ll need to ultimately win trophies this season.

But BBC pundit Alan Shearer isn’t among that group. Whilst he admitted Arsenal might be disappointed after Sunday’s match, he insisted they’re still the favourites in the title race this season.

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“Arsenal are still the team to beat,” Shearer wrote. “From last season’s top five, it’s only the Gunners who have found any consistency – the other four teams have been up and down – particularly Liverpool and Newcastle, but including Chelsea too.

“You could argue they could have done more against Chelsea’s 10 men, and they might be disappointed not to create more chances after the red card, and to only get a draw.

“But, looking at the bigger picture, they have come out of a very difficult week in the Champions League and Premier League with impressive wins over Tottenham and Bayern Munich and now getting a draw away at the team who were closest to them in the table.

“Against Chelsea, they were missing both of their first-choice centre-halves, Gabriel and William Saliba, and I don’t think it is a coincidence that, without them, they conceded from a Chelsea set-piece and did not look their usual threat from their own.

“The league table is not lying at the moment, and it never does. They deserve to be where they are because they’ve been the standout side so far, and they are going to take some catching too.”

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On paper, Arsenal now have an easier run of fixtures coming up. The Gunners go from playing Bayern Munich in the Champions League to Club Brugge. From league derbies against Spurs and Chelsea to the likes of Brentford (10th), Wolves (20th), and Everton (14th).

But there’s also two tough games against high-flying Aston Villa this month, as well as a visit from fifth-placed Brighton, and a League Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace.

Combine that with the fixture congestion at this time of year, and you’d be a fool to think it’s going to be a straightforward December.