Paul Merson predicts Arsenal’s chance of beating Tottenham

Former forward turned pundit Paul Merson has said that he’ll be ‘shocked’ if Arsenal can’t beat Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners have enjoyed a stellar campaign this term, but following a few disappointing results – which saw Mikel Arteta’s side get knocked-out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich, Arsenal’s impressive season was at risk of derailing.

However, following back-to-back impressive victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea in the Premier League, Arsenal have steadied the ship ahead of the North London Derby.

Mikel Arteta’s side are currently at the top of the table with 77 points from 34 games, sitting only one point ahead of Manchester City having played an extra game. Liverpool are currently third and following their defeat against Everton in midweek, they have lost ground in the title race.

So, Arsenal will have to beat their arch-rivals on Sunday to maintain their title charge, however, history has shown that it’s not easy to beat the city rivals, especially when you are in the title race like Liverpool experienced that in midweek.

Merson predicts Arsenal win

However, writing on Sportskeeda, Merson has said that Tottenham haven’t been able to showcase their best against top teams this season so it will be a big shock if the Gunners can’t manage to come away with all three points from this fixture.

The pundit further claims that Arsenal are a better football team than Spurs so the hosts are unlikely to be able to come away with a positive result despite their home advantage.

Merson wrote:

“Tottenham have been superb at home this season but if you look at their last ten results – they’ve faced nine bottom half teams! Manchester City were the only top-half team they faced in that period and they lost that game, so I can’t see them getting anything out of this one.

“Arsenal are just a better football team, so I’m very bullish on this one. I’ll be shocked if the Gunners don’t win this one as Spurs can’t beat Arsenal at their own game. When Arsenal lost to Aston Villa, they changed their team around by moving Kai Havertz into a midfield role to accommodate Gabriel Jesus, a move which ultimately backfired. In recent weeks, they’ve gone back to Havertz up front with Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard in midfield – that is the team they must retain for the rest of the season! Tottenham 1-3 Arsenal”

The match will kick off at 2pm UK time and it is going to be interesting to see how the game eventually unfolds. However, Arsenal can’t afford to think of anything but a victory to keep their hopes of winning the league title this term alive.