Shearer on: Southampton, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle

But of course there are guidelines that do have to be adhered to, but let’s keep perspective, we do have to make sure that we don’t take the passion out of the game.

Ironically, my fear is that when VAR is brought in next season we might see a few less celebrations as players will be scared to celebrate.

Arsenal reaction

I have been very impressed with Arsenal over the last couple of weeks, they have put in some great performances.

There’s been a toughness missing from Arsenal over the last few seasons and they seemed to get that back in the win over Tottenham last weekend, showing plenty of grit to get a result.

A lot of that came from Lucas Torreira, who bossed the midfield, and he has the potential to be just what they have been missing in the last few years.

They will take a lot of confidence from this unbeaten run, especially in getting results against the sides that they are fighting against for a spot in the top four.

It will be a very closely fought battle for the Champions League places but the way they are playing they can definitely consider themselves as strong contenders. 

Newcastle

I can’t get excited at all about the potential takeover at Newcastle. We have been there before and heard it all before.

It seems that these rumours always resurface around the January transfer window and it’s a bit like Groundhog Day to be honest.

That said, it is definitely much needed so I hope that this time there does end up being more substance behind the rumours.

On the pitch, they have been putting together some much better results after a tricky start to the season.

They came unstuck against West Ham but they bounced back with a good point at Everton, so overall there has been much more promise and that’s been great to see.