Nottingham Forest will have to work hard to prove their doubters wrong after Paul Merson shared his prediction for the club’s trip to Arsenal.
The Gunners currently sit two points clear at the top of the table after being held to a draw by Southampton last time out. Mikel Arteta’s side were also handed a defeat by PSV in the Europa League on Thursday night but have won nine of their opening 11 league games.
Forest recorded a surprise win over Liverpool last weekend, much to the delight of the crowd at the City Ground, to leave themselves two points away from safety. However, despite overcoming the odds against Jurgen Klopp’s team, ex-Arsenal midfielder Merson is expecting a straightforward win for his former side.
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“Mikel Arteta has been quite clever with Arsenal. He has played four solid defenders at the back - Ben White, Tomiyasu, and the two centre-backs. Thomas Partey plays in front of them - he's played for one of the most disciplined teams in world football in Atletico Madrid. Arteta's told the rest of the team to go out there and express themselves, and it's worked wonders for his side,” Merson told Sportskeeda , predicting a 3-0 Arsenal win.
“I know they suffered a bad result the other day against Southampton, but they didn't lose - that's a big compliment,” he continued. “Last season, they would've lost that game. If Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League table come the World Cup break, it'll be a massive feat.”
Assessing the chances for Steve Cooper’s to cause another upset on Sunday, Merson was not optimistic. “Nottingham Forest will sit back and play ten men behind the ball, but I think Arsenal will have too much for them,” Merson added.
“The earlier they find the back of the net, the bigger the final score will be. Forest are going to play one way and one way only, but I think Arsenal should be able to win this match.”
What are your score predictions for the Arsenal game? Let us know in the comments section…
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