'Banana skin': Paul Merson predicts the score when Arsenal face Bournemouth and admits concern
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Arsenal will look to continue their unbeaten record in the Premier League this season as they travel to the Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth on Saturday.
With five wins and two draws, Mikel Arteta’s side are a point behind league leaders Liverpool, although it could be argued that they’ve faced a far tougher run of fixtures so far.
The Gunners have become notoriously hard to beat in recent seasons and will look to put together a winning run after the international break to really become a force to be reckoned with.
And Paul Merson feels they will get all three points on the road, although he fired a word of caution to his former team.
Paul Merson predicts Arsenal to beat Bournemouth
Teams usually tend to falter immediately after the international break and Merson fears something similar could be in the offing for Arsenal if they don’t use their full squad against Bournemouth.
However, he thinks Arsenal’s quality will shine through as he predicted a 3-1 win for the Gunners on the road.
“This fixture is a potential banana skin for Arsenal,” wrote Merson in his column for Sportskeeda.
“There’s always this thing with matches after the international break, remember how Liverpool slipped up against Nottingham Forest last month?
“Bournemouth are a funny team, they were close to beating Chelsea and were also beaten by Leicester. You cannot underestimate these teams. If Arsenal end up losing points in such games, it could cost them like last season.
“I think Arsenal’s quality will come through in the end here though, I expect them to win. But they will have to make changes to the line-up that played against Southampton.
“If they play that same team, they won’t beat Bournemouth. The more I think, this fixture has banana skin written all over it.”
Upcoming run could define Arsenal’s season
After their trip to the Vitality Stadium, Arsenal face three more tricky away days in the Premier League as they prepare to take on Liverpool, Newcastle United and Chelsea in the upcoming weeks.
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If the Gunners maintain a clean bill of health and continue their unbeaten run, the possibility of another title challenge will start to loom large over the Emirates Stadium.
