Pundit makes big claim about Arsenal & Man City title race ahead of this weekend’s fixtures
Former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer has made his Premier League predictions ahead of this weekend and is expecting Arsenal to extend their lead over Manchester City.
The Gunners are currently top of the table, leading Man City by four points, and they face a difficult game at home to north London rivals Tottenham on Sunday.
Before then, City also have a tricky game as they take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park, and it seems Shearer his backing his old club to get a point and do Arsenal a favour.
Alan Shearer predicts Arsenal win and City draw
Giving his predictions to the Metro, the pundit stated that he felt Arsenal would beat Spurs, while City would only draw at Newcastle, which would see Mikel Arteta’s side extend their lead over Pep Guardiola’s men to six points.
On the Newcastle vs City game, Shearer said: “It’s a big game and a tough one to call but with the form Haaland is in, how can you go against them? If Newcastle can stop him, which is a huge if, then they win the game I guess. Not many can stop him but St James’ will be rocking and they’ll not allow another weak performance.
“I know you sometimes get a leggy performance after the international break but I don’t think the fans or Eddie Howe will allow that. I’ll go for a draw.”
Looking ahead to the North London Derby, he said: “Man City will have already played and claimed their points, or none. But whatever happens, Arsenal’s mentality is that they have to win the game.
“It’s always tough to predict a derby game but I think I’m just going to go for Arsenal to edge it. I usually go for a draw but I think I’ll just go for Arsenal to edge it.
“From 17th last season to where they are now, the football hasn’t been great from Spurs, but you can see a stamp from Thomas Frank on that team. They’ve improved at set-pieces and I think it’ll take time. I think Thomas Frank will be quietly pleased with how things have gone so far.”
How is the title race shaping up?
Arsenal have clearly been the best team of the season so far, even if City are close behind and Erling Haaland is in exceptional form in front of goal.
Arteta’s side have the best defence with just five goals conceded from their first eleven league games, and with teams so often struggling to even generate shots against the Gunners.
| Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals for | Goals against |
| Arsenal | 8 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 5 |
| Man City | 7 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 8 |
Arsenal haven’t won the title since 2003/04, so that inexperience might count against them if things end up being close with this City side that has won pretty much everything in a hugely dominant decade under Guardiola.
Still, so far it’s AFC leading the way and the ingredients are there for this side to do very well, provided they can have some better luck with injuries.
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