Paul Merson has predicted the Premier League title race will probably be ‘done’ this weekend as he backed Arsenal to proceed their winning run and Manchester City to slide up.
The Gunners, searching for to win their first Premier League title in 22 years, boast a seven-point lead at the highest of the table ahead of this weekend’s games.
Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday before Manchester City visit West Ham later within the day.
Mikel Arteta’s side showed signs of vulnerability last month as they dropped points in back-to-back games against Brentford and Wolves.
Those two results led to early shouts of ‘bottlers’ from rival fans but in Arsenal’s defence they’ve responded with three successive league wins, beating London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea before a narrow victory over Brighton.
Arsenal needed a late Kai Havertz penalty to earn a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the primary leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night.
Merson admitted his former side were ‘lucky’ to take that scoreline back to north London for the return leg but expects Arsenal to get back to winning ways against Everton.
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Everton have been fairly inconsistent this season but boast a good record away from home and visit the Emirates off the back of two straight wins.
‘Everton are a funny team, they play some good football away from home and are sometimes hard to beat on their travels,’ Merson told Sportskeeda. ‘It’s crazy how they generally get ripped to shreds in games and still get a result!
‘Arsenal haven’t been great in recent weeks. My god, they were lucky to get that draw against Bayer Leverkusen. They don’t play free-flowing football.
‘I expect Arsenal to be far too good for Leverkusen on the Emirates, but for the time being, I’m still a bit anxious about them. If that was a league game they drew, they might be in trouble.
‘This will probably be a troublesome game for Arsenal. My only problem with Everton is that they haven’t produced a correct 90-minute display while winning games.
‘They only play well in patches. In the event that they fall off for even 30 or 45 minutes against Arsenal, it’s game over! I expect a good game, but Arsenal to edge it just, 2-1.’
Who will win the Premier League?
If Arsenal do beat David Moyes’ Toffees, they may temporarily go ten points clear at the highest of the table ahead of Man City’s clash with West Ham on Saturday night.
Manchester City seemed to be getting back to their best just a number of weeks ago but Pep Guardiola’s side dropped points at home to Nottingham Forest of their last league game before losing 3-0 to Real Madrid within the Champions League.
Merson believes more dropped points against much-improved West Ham would end Man City’s probabilities of winning the title and has predicted exactly that consequence.
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City’s opponents West Ham are currently within the relegation zone but have lost just one in every of their last five league games to spice up their probabilities of survival.
‘After the loss against Real Madrid, this has grow to be a extremely tough game for Manchester City,’ Merson added. ‘It was an unreal result, isn’t it?
‘I watch numerous Real Madrid and I’m a giant fan of theirs, but I didn’t see that coming, if I’m being honest!
‘If City don’t beat West Ham this weekend and Arsenal win against Everton, the title race is finished! So it is a big week coming up for City.
‘If things don’t go of their favour, they could possibly be out of all competitions bar the FA Cup within the space of 10 days. Like I said, that loss to Real Madrid would have taken the stuffing out of them. It saps your confidence.
‘I don’t expect City to bounce back this weekend. A draw here that might end their hopes of catching Arsenal within the title race and I’m going for 2-2.’
Viktor Gyokeres’ first-half penalty earned Arsenal a 1-0 win over Everton within the reverse fixture, while Man City thumped West Ham 3-0 the primary time those two sides met this season.
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