Alan Shearer's Arsenal thoughts clear as he makes bold claim about Mikel Arteta's side

Alan Shearer was impressed by Arsenal's performance against Tottenham - and claims their defence is better than that of Manchester City.

The Gunners have started the new season in excellent form, evidenced by their victory over Tottenham on Sunday. Mikel Arteta's side ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win against their great rivals, courtesy of defender Gabriel's free header in the 64th minute.

While Arteta's side were without key stars in Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, they still secured the three points and kept on the heels of City. Former Newcastle United striker Shearer believes that Arsenal's backline are key to their success, going so far as to say that they have the best defence across the league.

Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Shearer said: "I think once Arsenal go 1-0 up against you, they're tough to get back, because they are - they've got the best back four in the Premier League, without a shadow of a doubt.

"They don't give hardly anything away, Spurs just kept trying to put hopeful balls into the box and Arsenal dealt with it easily. They deserved the three points Arsenal, without playing particularly well, which has to be a good sign."

Arsenal have kept an impressive three clean sheets from their first four matches, showcasing formidable form both home and away. Gary Lineker has claimed that the partnership between William Saliba and Gabriel has been a big plus for the team, as he said: "It certainly does, I think, I mean we've mentioned Saliba a lot but that partnership with him and Gabriel is very strong as you just said Alan.

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"I mean, Gabriel's a warrior, isn't he? He's a player you'd really want on your side and he does chip in with the odd goal."

Lineker, Shearer, and fellow pundit Micah Richards also spoke about the controversy surrounding Gabriel's goal, as some claimed the defender pushed Cristian Romero before he headed home. Lineker asked: "Although, a bit of a push? [Was it] a bit of a push?"

Shearer disagreed, as he said: "Nah! I mean, he's got to be stronger hasn't he? Goodness me, Romero, wasn't he the one who had a little appeal, didn't he?"

Richards, however, expressed his uncertainty about the incident by stating: "It probably was [a foul]. It was for me, I would've went 55/45 I would say in favour of a foul, I would say. I don't like seeing fouls given for that, but he did push him, he definitely pushed him."

Lineker added: "They [the referees] were never going to turn that one over though!" Arsenal will take on Atalanta next in the Champions League on Thursday, before a trip to the Etihad takes place on Sunday for a top two showdown against Manchester City.

Spurs are busy with Carabao Cup action against Championship side Coventry City on Wednesday, before they host Brentford on Saturday.