Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has now shared what he expects to happen when Newcastle United visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
Arsenal will be looking to maintain their impressive recent Premier League form when they host Newcastle United this weekend.
The Gunners’ need to quickly put the disappointment of Wednesday night’s Champions League defeat against Porto behind them. Mikel Arteta’s side are still very much in this Premier League title race. However, they must now make up ground on Liverpool, who extended their lead at the top of the table with a midweek win over Luton Town, whilst Arsenal were in action on the continent.
The north London club’s domestic form has been superb in recent weeks. They have won their last five top flight outings on the bounce, including two separate 5-0 wins, a victory over Liverpool themselves, and a club-record 6-0 triumph against West Ham United at the London Stadium.
Over the course of those five games, Arsenal have scored 21 goals and conceded just twice. That is certainly the form of serious title contenders, but they could undo so much of that good work with a slip-up against the Magpies.
Paul Merson tips Bukayo Saka to pull Newcastle apart
Paul Merson, though, cannot see such a blunder on the horizon for his former club. Speaking to Sportskeeda, he predicted a 3-1 win for Arsenal. He went on to state, “Newcastle’s defence is struggling at the moment, but they don’t have much to play for. I like watching them play because they open games up, but they don’t want to do that against Arsenal – it could get messy. Bukayo Saka could have a field day in this fixture, and I expect Arsenal to win this game comfortably.”
Bukayo Saka, on an individual level, has been in scintillating form recently. The 22-year-old has bagged six goals in his last four Premier League outings, including back-to-back braces against West Ham and Burnley.
Saka recently became the youngest Arsenal player since 1978 to reach one particular milestone, and if Newcastle aren’t at their very best, then the Hale End academy graduate will surely tear them apart too.
Arteta does deserve some credit for Saka’s recent goal glut as well. The Spanish coach’s decision to hand right-back Ben White the task of inverting into the midfield unit, in the absence of left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, has created extra space on the flank for Saka, which he has been able to exploit mercilessly.