Alan Shearer thinks Liverpool will finish above Arsenal, because the Gunners haven’t figured out their best team going forward.

Shearer is no stranger to predicting Arsenal to fall at every single hurdle, leaving them out of title-race predictions, or top-four predictions and so on.

So when asked in a Coral Q&A whether the Gunners or Liverpool would finish higher in the table, his answer was unsurprising. He said: “Liverpool, despite their issues defensively,” reports Football Insider.

“I think Arsene at Arsenal is still searching to find the perfect balance going forward. When you spend £50m on a centre-forward and you leave him out of big games like Arsene Wenger has then I still think he’s searching for his best formation going forward.”

Arsenal have suffered from some very inconsistent selection so far, although that hasn’t been entirely Arsène Wenger’s fault.

The injuries to various centre-backs have forced him to utilise 10 different players at the back already, and Alexis and Özil’s situations with extended holidays and injuries of their own have meant they’ve hardly started a game together with Lacazette.

When they featured together in wins over Everton and Swansea, they were then split up for the Manchester City match, to the frustration of the Arsenal fanbase. But after another goal from Lacazette that day, as well as two on international duty, it should be difficult to justify dropping him again for the weekend.

Shearer is right that until we see such form over a longer period, Liverpool are the safer bet for a top-four finish. On the other hand, Arsenal’s defence isn’t as bad as Liverpool’s, with the Reds conceding the second-most goals in the top-13 Premier League teams, so maybe not.