Alan Shearer Exclusive: Foden is back to his best and the title race is not over | OneFootball

Shearer says Foden's Man City form is great news for England

Betfair ambassador Alan Shearer talks all things Premier League including Phil Foden's return to form, why the title race is not over and why Manchester United have no excuses for their inconsistency...

Foden's form is back to his best

Phil Foden looks to be back to his very, very best after a bit of a quiet period. He's played some brilliant football and scored some great goals. He was absolutely superb again in the week.

The suggestion was put to Man City that they need others to chip in and score goals. They can't just rely on Erling Haaland. Foden seems to have stepped up and taken that on in recent weeks so he does look back to his best.

Erling Haaland is the perfect centre forward

Haaland is an animal for scoring goals and I see in him a similar mentality to the one I had when I was scoring goals. I see lots of things in his game that I recognize. There's no other word than just to say he is phenomenal, he really is.

I recognize and I understand all Haaland's movements. Probably the biggest compliment I can give him is: if you're building the ideal centre-forward you want strength, height, pace, power. Haaland has all of these things. I can't really find a weakness in him.

What you can't perhaps see, away from the strength, the pace, or his ability to score goals, is also his mentality. If you're looking to build the perfect centre-forward, then he is it.

Title race is not not done and dusted

It would take a brave person to say the title race is done. Especially when Arsenal have Man City chasing them with their title-winning experience. But it's Arsenal's to lose, they've got the squad, the ability, the lead. They've got one or two injuries, particularly in centre-half positions, but it's their title to lose.

Arsenal's five point is not a bad reflection of the league but it is a reflection of their rivals' inconsistency. Chelsea can't keep dropping points at home. They can't go and lead at home, put in a weak, limp performance defensively and then expect to challenge for the title.

As for Liverpool, we're all aware of their issues. No one saw that coming. It's been so bad, it's been unbelievable, and that is a massive surprise. So there's only Arsenal being consistent and that's why they've got a five-point lead.

Chelsea aren't good enough to challenge for title

I think a lot of Chelsea's inconsistency has to be on the manager. They were down to 10 men against Arsenal last week and did ever so well, but changing three of the back four for the trip to Leeds? To change that many players and then hope to get the result is a big ask and, obviously, it didn't work.

They're a young squad. I would say they're improving, but I think when you're that young, then you're going to get inconsistency and that's what's happening with Chelsea. When you can put in a performance like they did against Arsenal with 10 men and then, three days later, go to Leeds and put in that performance, then you're not going to be in the title race.

I'm not quite sure that they're good enough to challenge for the title yet.

Blackburn's title defence was better than Liverpool's

It's one thing being poor going forward, but at the back as well - nothing's working for Liverpool. Defensively they look really weak and vulnerable. The legs seem to have gone in midfield and up front it's like: "Wow, what's gone wrong?" There are so many things wrong with their game that it's difficult to see how they are going to fix it.

At Blackburn, the season after winning the league in 1995, we didn't sign anyone, which was a big mistake, and we finished seventh. But I don't ever remember us being as bad as Liverpool have been this season. There were still things to cling to.

What we're seeing from Liverpool now has been a massive surprise to everyone. Not one pundit, not one presenter, or not one opinion could foresee what's happening to Liverpool.

Man United have no excuses

I think Manchester United are more of a seven, eight, nine, 10th-place team than anything else. And even when they can win, I'm not convinced they're that good.

It could be lack of energy or lack of mentality. But they have no excuse, they have no European football. Compare them to Aston Villa, Crystal Palace or Newcastle, and it's like: "Come on, what have you got?" Manchester United are nothing better than okay.

It's all about the bigger picture with Newcastle

With Newcastle, you must look at the bigger picture. They're in the quarterfinal of the Carabao Cup. They've got Burnley at home next in the league. They probably need one more win in the Champions League to go into the knockout phase. So the big picture is that they can and will improve.

I was at the game the other night against Spurs and I was really disappointed that Newcastle weren't able to hang on to that lead. They have to try and kick and that would have been the perfect night to do it.

They've got the derby next weekend which everyone's looking forward to. But they need to work on that consistency.

Yoane Wissa is close to coming back which can only be a positive. Once he comes back, he'll be able to rotate with Nick Woltemade. There's definitely more options for Newcastle now.