Paul Merson makes confident Arsenal vs Chelsea Premier League prediction

Yesterday at 02:08 PM

Arsenal legend Paul Merson has made confident prediction ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League London derby against Chelsea.

The Gunners have held the upper-hand in this rivalry in recent years but the Blues gave an indication of their improvement when the two teams met earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge.

On that occasion Chelsea earned an impressive point after Pedro Neto cancelled out Gabriel Martinelli’s opener.

In the corresponding fixture last season, Arsenal romped to a 5-0 win but Mikel Arteta is envisaging a far tighter contest this time around.

‘I think it’s going to be a very different game,’ he said. ‘I think the way they’ve developed as a team is very impressive, what Enzo has done, the amount of talent that they have in the squad. A really tough match and we’ll have to be at our best.

‘Two teams that want to be very dominant in the way of playing, very aggressive on the high press and the way we have to have the ball. A lot of individual quality on that pitch.

‘It’s about imposing what you want and the direction that you want to take the game and keep them very far from their strengths.’

Like Arsenal’s manager, Merson feels the gap between the two clubs is narrowing but is still sure that Arsenal will find a way to win.

He told Sportskeeda: ‘When Mikel Arteta refused to bring Raheem Sterling on against Manchester United I thought it wasn’t the right decision. They had to win that game and I can’t believe he didn’t play at all!

‘Sterling impressed me against PSV in the Champions League. In fact, I thought he was one of Arsenal’s best players in the second leg.

‘What do I even say about Chelsea? They bored Leicester into submission last weekend. Chelsea have no threat up front without Nicolas Jackson. I’ve always said that Christopher Nkunku is more of a No.10 and you can’t expect or rely on him to do what a No.9 does.

‘Arsenal need to win this game. A defeat to Chelsea would pull the Gunners back into the race to finish in the top four. They are now 15 points behind Liverpool and just eight points ahead of Manchester City in fifth-place (prior to Saturday’s games).

‘Another loss and you would have to start worrying about them finishing inside the top four and I can’t believe I’m saying that.

‘Chelsea are a better team when Cole Palmer is firing, but without Jackson he has struggled.

‘I expect Palmer to find more space to operate in during this game, but I’m not sure Chelsea have enough to trouble Arsenal. Sterling is not eligible to play against his parent club, so I expect Mikel Merino to continue in attack. I’m not a big fan of the midfielder playing there, but what else can Arsenal do now? Prediction: 2-0.”