‘I can’t see anyone stopping Arsenal’ – Merson confident as Gunners go seven clear

The
Gunners
impressively
moved
into
a
seven-point
lead
at
the
top
of
the
table
with
a
4-2
victory
at
Brighton
and
Hove
Albion
on
Saturday
(December
31).

Draws
for
Manchester
City
and
Newcastle
United
earlier
on
New
Year’s
Eve
gave
the
Gunners
a
chance
to
increase
their
lead
at
the
summit.

And
they
grabbed
it
with
both
hands
at
the
Amex
Stadium,
Bukayo
Saka
setting
them
on
their
way
with
a
goal
after
only
66
seconds.

Inspirational
captain
Martin
Odegaard
doubled
Arsenal’s
lead
and
Eddie
Nketiah
added
a
third
goal,
with
Gabriel
Martinelli
getting
in
on
the
act
either
side
of
strikes
from
Brighton
duo
Kaoru
Mitoma
and
Evan
Ferguson.

Arsenal
are
sitting
pretty
after
five
consecutive
top-flight
wins
and
face
third-placed
Newcastle
at
home
on
Tuesday
in
a
crucial
contest.

5
–
Arsenal
are
just
the
fifth
side
in
English
top-flight
history
to
pick
up
as
many
as
43
points
from
the
first
16
games
in
a
season
(3
pts
for
a
win)
after
Tottenham
(1960-61),
Chelsea
(2005-06),
Man
City
(2017-18)
and
Liverpool
(2019-20).
Pacesetters.

pic.twitter.com/y1GYJRQ7IJ

—
OptaJoe
(@OptaJoe)

December
31,
2022

Merson
believes
the
title
battle
is
already
a
two-hose
race
between
Arsenal
and
City,
with
his
backing
going
to
the
Gunners
despite
Pep
Guardiola’s
champions
remaining
favourites
with
the
bookmakers.

“I
think
they’ll
beat
Newcastle,”
Merson
said
to
Sky
Sports.
“They’ve
just
won
two
games,
scored
seven
goals,
confidence
is
high.

“They’ve
won
every
game
at
home
this
season
in
the
league
–
that’s
some
doing.

“Arsenal
are
good
to
watch,
it’s
not
a
fluke.
You’ve
got
to
look
at
Man
City,
they’ve
lost
at
home
to
Brentford
and
drawn
at
home
to
Everton
who
are
on
a
bad
run.

“They
are
two
games
City
are
expected
to
win.
That’s
five
points
dropped.
I
don’t
see
anyone
stopping
Arsenal
at
the
moment.”

Wins
over
West
Ham
and
Brighton
since
the
World
Cup
break
have
delighted
Merson,
as
Arsenal
bid
to
win
a
first
league
crown
since
their
‘Invincibles’ team
tasted
success
in
2004.

He
added:
“When
we
stopped
for
the
World
Cup
you
thought
this
could
only
harm
Arsenal.
They
were
flying.
They’ve
come
back
and
scored
seven
goals
in
two
games.

“They’ve
got
a
platform,
it’s
in
their
hands.
I
know
there’s
a
long
way
to
go,
but
there
are
big
teams
in
this
league
who
can’t
win
it
–
Chelsea,
Liverpool,
Tottenham,
probably
Man
United.

“It’s
out
of
Arsenal
and
Man
City
unless
the
other
teams
go
on
the
most
extraordinary
run
you’ve
ever
seen
in
Premier
League
history.

“Who
goes
to
Brighton
and
scores
four
goals?
Arsenal
are
playing
great
football
and
at
the
moment,
they’re
the
best
team
in
the
country
and
the
number
one
team.

“They’ve
given
themselves
a
little
gap
where
they
can
afford
to
lose
a
few
games.
Man
City
are
not
going
to
win
every
game,
so
Arsenal
are
right
in
this,
I
couldn’t
talk
highly
enough
about
them.

“This
is
not
a
fluke,
they
are
where
they
are
because
they
are
a
very
good
football
team.

“They
went
to
Old
Trafford
and
got
beat,
and
I
didn’t
think
they
deserved
to.
There
are
ways
of
losing
matches
and
they
bounced
back.

“The
other
night,
they
went
1-0
down
to
West
Ham
and
they
came
back
and
brushed
them
aside.”