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Alan Shearer was full of praise for Liverpool but claimed that the Reds' challengers have been disappointing in the Premier League this season.

Liverpool moved 13 points clear of Arsenal in second position in the standings earlier this week and, barring a calamitous run-in, will end the season on top of the pile for the second time in six seasons.

In the main, Liverpool have been absolutely fantastic, but I do have to say that the teams chasing them have been poor.

"Nobody would have said Forest would have been in third position at this stage, so you can’t really include them, but the main title chasers, the likes of Arsenal, Man City and all the others have been really poor and it's been an off-season for them.

Liverpool have been the standout team by an absolute mile."

As recently as last weekend, Arsenal had the chance to cut Liverpool's lead at the top of the table to just five points, but a defeat and a draw coupled with back-to-back wins for the Reds saw the gap extend to 13 points

Arsenal has been wrestling with an attacking injury crisis for much of 2025 but Shearer believes the Gunners' biggest problem has been evident since the beginning of the campaign.

He added: "About a month ago, maybe three weeks ago there was a glimmer of hope for Arsenal, that if they went on a winning run then it might put a little bit of pressure on Liverpool, but they just couldn't do it

I know they've got injuries, but I go back to the first week of the season, where I said that if Arsenal bought a striker then I'd fancy them to win the league and if not then I didn't think they'd do it.

"Ultimately, injuries and a lack of striker has cost Arsenal, and that's the reason why when push came to shove, they haven't had enough

Either they couldn't get a striker in, or Mikel Arteta didn't want one, but whatever way around it's clear to see that Arsenal have made a huge error in that position."


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