Paul Merson makes huge title prediction ahead of Arsenal vs Everton and West Ham vs Man City

Paul Merson has predicted the Premier League title race will be ‘done’ this weekend as he backed Arsenal to continue their winning run and Manchester City to slip up.

The Gunners, seeking to win their first Premier League title in 22 years, boast a seven-point lead at the top of the table ahead of this weekend’s games.

Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday before Manchester City visit West Ham later in the day.

Mikel Arteta’s side showed signs of vulnerability last month as they dropped points in back-to-back games against Brentford and Wolves.

Those two results led to early shouts of ‘bottlers’ from rival fans but in Arsenal’s defence they have responded with three successive league wins, beating London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea before a narrow victory over Brighton.

Arsenal needed a late Kai Havertz penalty to earn a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night.

Merson admitted his former side were ‘lucky’ to take that scoreline back to north London for the return leg but expects Arsenal to get back to winning ways against Everton.

Everton have been fairly inconsistent this season but boast a decent record away from home and visit the Emirates off the back of two straight wins.

‘Everton are a funny team, they play some good football away from home and are often hard to beat on their travels,’ Merson told Sportskeeda. ‘It’s crazy how they sometimes get ripped to shreds in games and still get a result!

‘Arsenal haven’t been great in recent weeks. My god, they were lucky to get that draw against Bayer Leverkusen. They don’t play free-flowing football.

‘I expect Arsenal to be far too good for Leverkusen at the Emirates, but at the moment, I’m still a bit worried about them. If that was a league game they drew, they would be in trouble.

‘This will be a tough game for Arsenal. My only problem with Everton is that they haven’t produced a proper 90-minute display while winning games.

‘They only play well in patches. If they fall off for even 30 or 45 minutes against Arsenal, it’s game over! I expect a tight game, but Arsenal to edge it just, 2-1.’

If Arsenal do beat David Moyes’ Toffees, they will temporarily go ten points clear at the top of the table ahead of Man City’s clash with West Ham on Saturday night.

Manchester City appeared to be getting back to their best just a few weeks ago but Pep Guardiola’s side dropped points at home to Nottingham Forest in their last league game before losing 3-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Merson believes more dropped points against much-improved West Ham would end Man City’s chances of winning the title and has predicted exactly that outcome.

City’s opponents West Ham are currently in the relegation zone but have lost just one of their last five league games to boost their chances of survival.

‘After the loss against Real Madrid, this has become a really tough game for Manchester City,’ Merson added. ‘It was an unreal result, isn’t it?

‘I watch a lot of Real Madrid and I’m a big fan of theirs, but I didn’t see that coming, if I’m being honest!

‘If City don’t beat West Ham this weekend and Arsenal win against Everton, the title race is done! So this is a big week coming up for City.

‘If things don’t go in their favour, they could be out of all competitions bar the FA Cup in the space of 10 days. Like I said, that loss to Real Madrid would have taken the stuffing out of them. It saps your confidence.

‘I don’t expect City to bounce back this weekend. A draw here that would end their hopes of catching Arsenal in the title race and I’m going for 2-2.’

Viktor Gyokeres’ first-half penalty earned Arsenal a 1-0 win over Everton in the reverse fixture, while Man City thumped West Ham 3-0 the first time those two sides met this season.

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