Paul Merson has noted in his column for Sportskeeda that Arsenal must beat Aston Villa in their Premier League meeting on Friday night to avoid going three games without a victory.
Mikel Arteta’s side let slip their advantage against Crystal Palace on Monday, and needed a 95th-minute equaliser from Alexandre Lacazette. Brighton also held Arsenal to a goalless draw at the start of October, ending the Gunners’ run of three-straight top-flight wins.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, travel to Arsenal on the back of dropping a two-goal lead to lose to Wolves last Saturday. Merson describes the Midlands derby result as a ‘nightmare’ for the Villans, having led Bruno Lage’s side until the 85th-minute.
Additionally, Merson questions some of the late changes Dean Smith made, with each goal Aston Villa shipped to Wolves coming after their third substitution. Replacing Douglas Luiz, Emi Buendia and Matty Cash with Marvelous Nakamba, Jacob Ramsey and Ashley Young.
Merson backs Arsenal to beat Aston Villa
Merson also reflects on Arsenal’s performance against Crystal Palace while backing Arteta to beat Smith and Aston Villa. The Gunners icon believes his former side actually showed a few positive signs against the Eagles. As they would never have recovered in seasons past.
“Arsenal have done alright in the Premier League so far,” Merson said. “People said it was a bad result the other day against Crystal Palace, but I think this is the kind of game they lost a couple of years ago. In recent weeks, they’ve kept sticking at it and need to win this one badly. As otherwise, it’ll quickly become three games without a win in the Premier League.
“Aston Villa, on the other hand, had a nightmare result against Wolves. They were 2-0 up with 10-minutes left on the clock, but somehow squandered their advantage as they made a series of wrong substitutions. It’ll be a tough game, but I expect Arsenal to just edge this one [and win 2-1].”
Will Smith prove Merson wrong away to Arteta’s men?
While Merson suggests Smith’s substitutions were part of why Aston Villa collapsed against Wolves, Lage’s attacking changes at the same time were just as important. The Molineux outfit upped their intensity in the late stages, got in-between lines and caused more issues.
Arteta will surely take inspiration from Wolves’ intensity when Arsenal host Aston Villa on Friday to try and fulfil Merson’s expectations and return to winning ways. The Spaniard will likely also share the Highbury hero’s glee at how the Gunners responded on Monday.
Arsenal had only taken 20 of a possible 84-points from losing positions in Premier League fixtures under Arteta before they hosted Crystal Palace. They would rather have ended the night with all three, but taking one at the end is better than none.
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