Alan Shearer is one of the most respected pundits in the game and he’s now had his say on who wins this weekend out of Arsenal and Sunderland.
The Gunners welcome Regis Le Bris’ in-form Black Cats side to The Emirates knowing a win will put massive pressure on Man City, who have to travel to Liverpool this weekend.
Mikel Arteta will be drilling into his players the importance of not making any more mistakes and Sunderland, given their form, will pose a threat if afforded the chance.
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Still, this is a home tie for Arsenal and one that, on paper, they should be winning.
Indeed, according to Alan Shearer, not even a bang in form Sunderland can stop the Gunners.
Alan Shearer says why Arsenal will beat Sunderland
It will take a brave person really to bet against the Gunners winning this weekend. Still, we’ve seen the problems Sunderland can cause teams and they’ll be desperate to cause an upset here.
Of course, doing it is easier said than done.
And after Chris Sutton predicted a comfortable afternoon for Arsenal, former sparring partner Shearer has now had his own say.
“I don’t think Sunderland will turn their home form into away form this weekend,” Shearer said in The Metro.
“At home they’ve been amazing but going to Arsenal, with the form they’re in and how they’re playing, Arsenal will have too much for them. Home win.”
Sunderland’s dreadful record at The Emirates
Arsenal can go into this one with confidence for a number of reasons. They are top of the league and playing well as we know.
But another thing to note is that the reality is that Sunderland just do not like playing at The Emirates.
In fact, they’ve never won here. In 16 games, Arsenal have won 11 and drawn five.
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Furthermore, you have to go all the way back to the 80s for the last time Sunderland won away at Arsenal, with a League Cup win in 2002 the only outlier since.
In a nutshell, the tide is with Arsenal on this one and if Sunderland do win, it will be a huge shock.
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