Arsenal will take on Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium and Paul Merson predicts a comfortable win for the home side.
The Gunners closed the gap with Manchester City at the top to just one point after beating Newcastle United 2-0 last week, but they have played a game more.
Merson says that Arsenal produced an “outstanding” performance against the Magpies at St James’ Park and predicts them to win all of their remaining games.
However, the former Arsenal hero doesn’t see City dropping points either and says that the Gunners are still unlikely to win the league.
Brighton are chasing a European spot but they suffered a big blow last week after they lost 5-1 against relegation-threatened Everton. It will be interesting to see how they respond to that heavy defeat, but Merson feels that teams like Aston Villa and Brighton don’t do very well when they are under pressure.
Merson thinks it will be a comfortable afternoon for the Gunners and has predicted a 3-1 win for the home side. He said to Sportskeeda:
“As I said about Aston Villa, Brighton looked like they were going to do something special once they got near the Champions League positions. They went on a very good run and then the pressure came on and they started losing matches.
“When the pressure is not on, they are a very good football team. But when the pressure is back and the prospect of Europe comes in, they don’t do very well. They lost against Tottenham and Nottingham Forest and then they beat Wolves and Manchester United. Immediately after that, they were decimated by Everton.
“Arsenal turned in an outstanding performance against the Magpies. I think they’re going to win all their games from here on in but they are unlikely to still win the league.”
Strong prediction
After Brighton on Sunday, Arsenal will face Nottingham Forest and Wolves in their remaining fixtures and they should win those two games.
The Gunners have already qualified for the Champions League and they have nothing to lose here. They need to win and keep the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side.
City will face the likes of Everton, Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford in their remaining four games. Given the form they are in, the Premier League champions are unlikely to drop points, but anything is possible over the course of 90 minutes.
Brighton find themselves seventh in the Premier League table, seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool having played two games less. So, even if they win all of their remaining games, they still face an uphill fight to finish in the Europa League qualification places.
