Arsenal had their title ambitions dealt a huge blow last night after their 2-0 defeat against West Ham United cost them the chance to return to the top of the Premier League table. The Gunners are two points behind...

Arsenal had their title ambitions dealt a huge blow last night after their 2-0 defeat against West Ham United cost them the chance to return to the top of the Premier League table.

The Gunners are two points behind Liverpool after 19 games, with only a point separating them from third-placed Aston Villa.

Arsenal will be desperate to bounce back when they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, but Alan Shearer does not see them winning the title this season following their performance on Thursday night.

The North London club were the second-best against the Hammers, and their lack of quality finishing cost them, with their 30 attempted shots yielding no goals.

Shearer was asked to pick his top-four for the season while on punditry duties on Amazon Prime Video Sport last night, and he predicted a third-place finish for Arsenal, picking Manchester City and Liverpool as the top-two and predicting Villa to finish fourth.

It is only a prediction but Arsenal did not play like potential champions against West Ham and have not been playing like one for a while, struggling to come up with another plan to break down such a resolute defence.

Their eight shots on target did not threaten Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, and the 77 touches they had in the opposition box against West Ham was the most on record (since 2008-09) in a single Premier League match for a team who failed to score.

They clearly need to reinforce their attack next month with just ten league goals between Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka so far.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta suggested he preferred if his forwards shared the goals among them rather than having a 50-goal hitman, and he may need to reconsider things next month if Arsenal are serious about winning the title this term.

View Entire Post