Arsenal: Shearer reveals PL title advantage over City amid ‘good sign’ with ‘magnificent’ duo lauded

Pundit Alan Shearer lauded two Arsenal stars after Mikel Arteta’s side beat arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in Sunday’s North London derby.

Arsenal returned to winning ways on Sunday afternoon as they beat Spurs at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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Arteta ‘s team defended superbly as they ground out a much-needed victory without Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, who were unavailable.

The Gunners dropped points in a draw against Brighton before the international break, so they are two points behind table-toppers Manchester City, who have won their opening four Premier League games.

The North London outfit face Man City at the Etihad this weekend and this match could be key in determining who wins the Premier League title this season.

After Arsenal’s win against Tottenham, Shearer claimed Arteta has “got the best back four in the Premier League”.

“I think once Arsenal go 1-0 up against you, they’re tough to get back, because they are – they’ve got the best back four in the Premier League, without a shadow of a doubt,” Shearer said.

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“They don’t give hardly anything away, Spurs just kept trying to put hopeful balls into the box and Arsenal dealt with it easily. They deserved the three points Arsenal, without playing particularly well, which has to be a good sign.”

Shearer has also singled out Arsenal duo William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes for praise.

He added: “They are big, they are strong, and they don’t mind a battle. In fact, they love a battle and a challenge.

“They just got rid of everything that came into the box they were absolutely magnificent.”

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“When you go one goal behind against this arsenal team you have got to do something special to get back because it’s very very tough.

“They’ve got the best back four in the Premier League there is no doubt about that. The way they operate, the way they work, they way they are protected.

“Spurs didn’t have an answer today – not for the first tie this season – but in the end, they ended up just lumping balls into the box which are food to these two centre-halves.”

Speaking post-match, Arteta revealed what he “loved” about Arsenal’s win against Tottenham.

“Super happy obviously. We know what it means to our club and our people to win a north London derby,” Arteta said.

“We had good moments and others where we had to suffer. We suffered because we had to adapt the plan because of the players that we had available.

“I loved it. The second we started to get that news (Odegaard injury), the team got hungrier and hungrier to play that game. It’s a big compliment to everybody at the club to behave in a certain way.

“It’s a tough week coming and instead of finding any excuses we did the opposite. We faced the challenge, played with courage and acknowledged the qualities we had to win the game.

“We have people that are hard and have thick skin. They love the game and we love winning.

“In order to love the game and win you have to do things that people call ugly. Enjoying those ugly things is a big compliment to this team right now. When you’re able to do that, normally you get a good gift.”