'They have to': Alan Shearer claims Mikel Arteta has a major problem at Arsenal which he needs to fix
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Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday evening.
Bournemouth defeated Arsenal 2-0 on the South Coast – which has left Mikel Arteta’s side four points adrift of league leaders Liverpool heading into match week nine.
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 1 | LiverpoolLiverpool | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 21 |
| 2 | Man CityManchester City | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | ArsenalArsenal | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 17 |
| 4 | Aston VillaAston Villa | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 17 |
| 5 | BrightonBrighton | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 15 |
| 6 | ChelseaChelsea | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 14 |
To have any aspirations of winning the Premier League title, you simply can’t give up that much ground at this stage of the season.
So evidently, Arteta has some work to do on the training ground and Alan Shearer has outlined exactly where his side are going wrong.
Alan Shearer says Mikel Arteta must address disciplinary issue
Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast, Alan Shearer said Arsenal must address their disciplinary issue if they want to win the Premier League title, following William Saliba’s red card against Bournemouth.
"They (Arsenal) are not going to win the title if they continue to get red cards because it’s just too tough in our league, in the Premier League, to be, no matter how good you are, to go in against 11 v 10 for an hour.
"It’s so difficult and it’s already proved, isn’t it? They have got the three times it’s happened this season, they have only taken two points from nine. So that tells you how hard it’s going to be.
"So yeah, they have to cut down on that. Otherwise, they ain’t going to win the league."
Arsenal next game against Liverpool is almost a must-win
Arsenal are now beginning to fall into must-win territory if they’re to have any chance of winning the Premier League title this season.
They’re next in action on Sunday as they play host to the frontrunners Liverpool, who have made a brilliant start to the new Premier League campaign under Arne Slot’s stewardship.
The Gunners then travel to Newcastle before another away trip at Chelsea, so it could be a season-defining three-game period.
Arteta will indeed be without arguably his best centre-back Saliba, too.
