Villa will host the league leaders on the back of a remarkable 1-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday. Leon Bailey scored the winner in the second half to extend Villa's unbeaten home run to 14 league games.
A win for the hosts would see Unai Emery's side move just one point behind the Gunners. They will head to B6 unbeaten in their last four games.
With that said, Merson believes Mikel Arteta's men will claim another win. He told Sportskeeda: "Aston Villa absolutely dominated Manchester City and came away with a deserved 1-0 win in midweek.
"I haven’t seen a team do that to Man City in God knows how long, so it was a huge statement of intent from Unai Emery and Co. If Aston Villa win here, they are in the title race. I just have to say it.
"They put in a lot of hard work against Man City, but I still fancy Arsenal in this one. If Arsenal can beat the Villa press with Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard in the centre of the park, I don’t think the full-backs will be able to handle the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
"As for Kai Havertz, I said so many times that he’s a top player and would be a good signing for Arsenal. I’m not sure if he’ll start against Villa, but I think they could use a player like him as he’d play a key role in beating their press."
Merson's prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal
0 Comments