Paul Merson has concerns about Arsenal and specifically their players who won’t be featuring at the World Cup in Qatar.
Arsenal picked up yet another win on Sunday afternoon as they went away to Chelsea and claimed a 1-0 victory.
The Gunners still sit top of the Premier League table and have dropped just five points in 13 games.
It still feels lofty to back Arsenal for a title challenge this season but with each passing week, Arsenal are posing a bigger threat to Manchester City.
Paul Merson has concerns about Arsenal
Arsenal will though have to contend with the disruption of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The likes of Aaron Ramsdale, William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka are set to feature at the World Cup.
Those players will now face a heavy workload before then having to return for Premier League action in December.
That will be a concern for Mikel Arteta and co, who may fear his players coming back very tired when league football restarts.
Yet Paul Merson actually has concerns about the players who aren’t going to the World Cup.
Players like Gabriel Magalhaes, Fabio Vieira, Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Eddie Nketiah will be sat at home whilst the World Cup is going on.
They can train and play in friendlies but won’t have that Premier League intensity for more than a month.
That’s really worrying Arsenal legend Merson, who has been speaking to Sky Sports about the Gunners and their start to the season.
Merson admitted that the World Cup break isn’t going to help Arsenal because it disrupts their momentum in the Premier League.
Merson added that he is most worried about the players who aren’t going to the World Cup, believing that they are ‘going to struggling’ when they return to Premier League action.
The time without real games is a concern for Merson, who doesn’t have ‘any worries’ about those who will be featuring in Qatar.
“You’ve got to say it’s not going to help them because they’re flying,” said Merson. “As we talk today, they are title contenders after the Chelsea result. I thought they were absolutely brilliant. When they have played badly at Leeds and Southampton, they haven’t been beaten. That’s what it’s all about.”
“You’d have to say it will harm them. It certainly doesn’t help. We know if they kept going at this rate, they’re playing so well. It’s the unknown.
“I find it’s the players who are not going away that are the ones who are going to struggle. It’s a long time without football. Alright you can have a couple of friendlies, but it isn’t the same intensity. I don’t have any worries for the players who are going to the World Cup and going to be playing. It’s the norm. I think it doesn’t help Arsenal generally. I don’t see how the break ends, and they come back exactly how they left off. It’s going to be a hard ask,” he added.
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