Paul Merson makes extraordinary title claim, it could be ‘done and dusted in the next two weeks’
The Premier League title race may be a foregone conclusion according to Paul Merson after just nine matches of the season.
Liverpool won the Premier League title last season, but Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace currently has the Gunners four points clear at the top.
Bournemouth are currently Arsenal‘s closest challengers with Man City’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa putting them six points off the pace.
Arsenal are looking to win a first title since the invincibles of the 2003-2004 season, with Mikel Arteta’s side coming second in the past three campaigns.
Arsenal could win the Premier League ‘quite comfortably’
Speaking to Sportskeeda [31 October], Merson believes his former club Arsenal will win the Premier League title and could do so emphatically.
“I said on 19th September that if Arsenal get four points out of their games against Manchester City and Newcastle United, they win the league,” Merson said.
“Arsenal did it and I stand by what I said. In fact, the title race could be done and dusted in the next two weeks!
“They face Burnley and Sunderland before the international break, while Liverpool have Aston Villa and Manchester City.
“I expect Arsenal to win both them games and I’m not backing Liverpool to win this weekend. If City and Liverpool then take points off each other in gameweek 11, I think Arsenal will win the league quite comfortably.
“I even believe Arsenal could enjoy a good run in the Champions League because by the time it reaches the latter stages, we could be looking at a situation where they would have sealed the league title already!“
Alan Shearer believes Arsenal have an advantage in the title race with their ability to grind out results compared to their rivals.
Arsenal could achieve something ‘unbelievable’
Arsenal went through the whole month of November without conceding a goal in all competitions, and the Gunners have only let in three in the Premier League so far.
Chelsea hold the record of conceding just 15 goals in a Premier League campaign and Merson believes breaking that feat would be “unbelievable.”
“Arsenal have been compared to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea of the past. The difference between that Chelsea team and Arsenal is that they did it for the whole season,” Merson said.
| Goals Conceded per match | 0.3 |
| Expected Goals conceded | 5.3 |
| Clean Sheets | 6 |
| Goalkeeper saves per match | 1.8 |
“Arsenal have only done it for nine games, and still have three quarters of the season left to play.
“If Arsenal want to be as good as that Chelsea team, they have to concede not more than four goals in every nine games coming up. If that happens in this day and age, it will quite simply be unbelievable.”