Former Arsenal playmaker Paul Merson has predicted the Premier League round of matches involving Tottenham V Chelsea, Leicester City V Arsenal, Crystal Palace V Liverpool, and Bournemouth V Manchester City.
Previewing the matches on Sportkeeda, The Arsenal Icon said:
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea
“This is one of Chelsea’s biggest games of the season. These are two teams that do not like each other. If Chelsea goes and get beaten here, it adds more pressure on Potter. I want him to stay. I’m not sure if he’s the one bringing these players in.
“I’m watching these players and I wonder whether these signings are better than the players they’ve got.
“They are absolutely not. So why are they buying these players? They might very well offload players like Mason Mount and Conor Gallager and profit off their sales because they are academy graduates. And then suddenly, they’ll figure out that the club has lost its soul.
“If Chelsea plays the team that squared off against Southampton last weekend, they won’t win the game against Spurs. If Potter goes back to his tried and tested system, the Blues will beat Spurs all day long.
“What I love about Potter is that he has looked after the club and the players before himself. He is under major pressure. He could have played Reece James and Thiago Silva last weekend because he has a job to keep. But what did he do? He didn’t want to risk injuries for those players and chose to leave them out.
“He has looked after them. He could have chosen not to protect those players, but he opted to look at the bigger picture. I think he needs to be given until next Christmas and afforded a proper pre-season with this team. If it doesn’t work out by Christmas, then even he’ll understand it’s best to part ways.
“Tottenham are in the FA Cup, they’re in the Champions League and they are in the top four in the Premier League. We’re sitting thinking that Spurs are blowing hot and cold. But the fact is that they blow hot more often than they are cold. They’ve got Harry Kane. He is a big difference-maker for them.
“Spurs are slightly more of a winning side than Newcastle United. I expect them to end up in the top 4 ahead of the Magpies.
“This is the starting XI I hope Potter goes with: Kepa, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Benoit Badiashile, Thiago Silva, Enzo Fernandez, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz and Joao Felix.
“If this team plays, they will beat Tottenham 3-0. If he plays Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke, they won’t beat Spurs. Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Chelsea.”
Leicester City V Arsenal
“Arsenal will win this game. I thought Leicester City were unlucky the other day against Manchester United. They could have been 2-0 up before Manchester United started scoring.
“Leicester will cause problems for Arsenal this weekend. If they hadn’t missed a couple of big chances and De Gea didn’t make those massive saves, Leicester could have got a result at Old Trafford last Sunday.
“Meanwhile, this could be a defining game for Arsenal. Manchester City, I think, will definitely beat Bournemouth. If Arsenal wins here and then beat Everton in midweek, which is their game in hand, they will go five points clear at the top again.
“Arsenal have a relatively easy set of fixtures coming up and if City falter in any of these upcoming game weeks, the Gunners could well be on their way to winning the title. Arsenal are the team to watch right now.
“Arteta’s side seems to get a little nervous on occasion and they’re a bit caught in between wanting to be defensively solid and going all-out in attack. They should ideally score the first goal and if they do that, they’ll play their best football for the rest of the game.
“But they haven’t been doing that much in recent games, and that’s what has led to them being shaky at the back because the nerves are starting to show. I expect Arsenal to come out on top in an entertaining game. Prediction: Leicester City 2-3 Arsenal.”
Crystal Palace V Liverpool
“I’m looking at Crystal Palace getting dragged into the relegation battle. Palace needs a big result like beating Liverpool at home. They have a testing set of fixtures coming up and are part of this group of six or seven teams that could get relegated at the end of the season.
“If you look at the way Liverpool were playing against Newcastle United last weekend, and you didn’t know Pope was shown a red card, you wouldn’t have been able to tell they were down to 10 men at times.
“Suffice to say, Liverpool did struggle despite getting off to a flying start and playing more than 60 minutes against 10 men.
“Crystal Palace will sit back and hit Liverpool on the break. Palace’s players are not of Vinicius’ class, but Liverpool will need to be wary of them. They’ve got pace down the flanks, and those are “the kind of teams that cause problems for Liverpool and if they can make the right decisions, Patrick Vieira’s men can get a result here. Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Liverpool.”
Bournemouth V Manchester City
“I think Bournemouth did very well last weekend against Wolverhampton Wanderers. But I also think this is a bad game for Bournemouth.
“They’ve done well in their last two games. Yet another wow-factor result could be of massive help to them as these results help in dragging other teams down towards the drop zone.
“Manchester City have an extraordinary squad. I will keep on saying it and I will again – they have to win the Champions League.
“If they’ve gone and signed Erling Haaland for that kind of money and not won the Champions League, I don’t think just winning the Premier League equates to success. However, I expect them to go out and get a pretty routine win this weekend as they will not want to lose any more ground to Arsenal. Prediction: Bournemouth 0-4 Manchester City.”
