Paul Merson has shared his concerns for Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium
Paul Merson believes Arsenal will be in “major trouble” if they lose to Liverpool on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta‘s side suffered their first defeat of the season in last Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Bournemouth. The Gunners currently sit four points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after eight matches.
Arsenal are also three points behind second-placed Manchester City, who could stretch that lead when they host relegation strugglers Southampton on Saturday. The reigning champions are unbeaten in 31 top-flight games, having last tasted defeat in a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa in December 2023.
And former Gunners star Merson has shared his concern that Arteta’s team could face an insurmountable gap to Liverpool and City if they lose on Sunday. Defeat would see them fall seven points behind the Merseysiders.
“They would be in major trouble if they lose to Liverpool at the weekend,” he told Sky Sports. “They are playing catch-up, and the top teams aren’t losing five or six games a season.
“These top managers just don’t lose games. Arsenal will probably lose another couple before the end of the season, and so this is a cup final this weekend. It’s a massive football match. Allow a six-point gap to Manchester City already – wow, that will be hard to overcome.”
Arsenal’s task against Liverpool became even harder when key centre-back William Saliba was sent off against Bournemouth last weekend. The Frenchman was shown a straight red card for the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity when he dragged down Bournemouth’s Evanlison.
“Only time will tell if these red card offences will cost Arsenal the title,” he added. “It wasn’t a good result [against Bournemouth], three big points dropped.
“We had this problem early in Arsene Wenger’s reign, they suffered with sending offs, and they were not a dirty team, just physical.
“It’s a bit of luck here and there. When you’re playing for Arsenal, it’s a big club, in the heat of the moment you have to make cool decisions and on Saturday William Saliba does not have to do that.
“You’ve got to weigh things up. This is Arsenal, they will dominate, and the lad Evanilson still had to run half the length of the pitch with Saliba breathing down his neck – no disrespect, he’s not Erling Haaland. You have to be calm and collected at a big club like Arsenal, so I’m disappointed with what Saliba did there.”