Arsenal will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Southampton in the Premier League tonight at the Emirates Stadium and Paul Merson has predicted a comfortable victory for the home side.
The Gunners are undefeated in their last nine games in the Premier League but they have dropped points against Liverpool and West Ham in their previous two games, both matches ending in a 2-2 draw.
Bukayo Saka – who has been outstanding for the north London club this season – missed a penalty against the Hammers in the previous game. Merson says Saka was “incredibly brave” to take the penalty after his miss at the Euros, and he would be “shocked” if the 21-year-old doesn’t take a penalty again this season.
Southampton are rock bottom in the Premier League with only 23 points and Merson feels that it’s the perfect game for Arsenal to bounce back. He says it’s a “big game” in the title race and predicts a 3-0 win (plus, the Gunners will win the league title) against the Saints while writing for SportsKeeda.
Merson wrote:
“This is a big game in the title race, and Arsenal need to get back to where they were. They’ve run out of luck a little bit – for all the last-minute goals they’ve scored this season, it’s coming the other way now. They did brilliantly to go 2-0 up against West Ham but they then got complacent.
“Arsenal aren’t playing badly, but they are getting punished for things they got away with at the start of the season. This reminds me of when I was playing in 1989 – we were clear, but Liverpool caught up with us and we had to go get a result at Anfield.
“Bukayo Saka was incredibly brave to take a penalty after his miss at the Euros. People miss penalties, and I’d be shocked if he didn’t take the next one for Arsenal.
“If you had to pick a game to bounce back this season, you’d take Southampton at home. I still think Arsenal will win the league this season, and they should be able to win this game.”
Fascinating title race
In recent years, we have seen Liverpool and Man City mainly fighting for the league title, and very few had predicted that the Gunners would be involved in such a fascinating race.
Arsenal have surpassed all expectations but it remains to be seen if they can hold on to their nerves and not wilt under pressure. They are leading the Premier League table by four points having played a game more, but their recent lapses have allowed Pep Guardiola’s side to close the gap.
Southampton have been dreadful this season, and they are going through a wretched run of form. The Saints are without a win in their last six games, losing three in a row, and it will require a herculean effort to get something from this game.
Guardiola admitted recently that he doesn’t expect the two teams to drop points in the closing stages, and believes the fixture against the Gunners next week will seal the fate of the title race. Clearly, Spaniard is playing the mind game here, and trying to rattle the Gunners psychologically.
Arsenal will face Man City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Brighton after this game, and they should focus on taking one game at a time instead of getting involved in the hype of how the title race will pan out.
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