‘These two sides’: Paul Merson predicts Aston Villa v Arsenal

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Paul Merson has written on SportsKeeda that the Premier League game between Aston Villa and Arsenal will end in a draw.

Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa will take on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.

Former Arsenal and Villa star Merson believes that the two teams will cancel each other out.

The Sky Sports pundit has predicted Villa and Arsenal to play out a 2-2 draw.

Aston Villa v Arsenal

Merson wrote: “Arsenal played very well in the first half against Liverpool and could’ve probably won the game if Martin Odegaard had managed to score past Alisson Becker.

“That said, this is a tough game for Arsenal, as Aston Villa are also in good form heading into the game. If you had looked at this game two weeks ago, it would’ve been easy to predict an Arsenal win.

“However, a lot has happened in the past two weeks, so this game might not prove to be as straightforward for Mikel Arteta and co.

“I think there will be a lot of goals in this and if Arsenal manage to not get beat, it will still be a good result for them in terms of their top-four hopes.

“A draw wouldn’t be the worst result in the world, so I think these two sides will cancel each other out in an entertaining game.”

Who’ll win?

In our view, Arsenal will head into the match against Villa as favourites.

The Villans’ recent form has not been great, and the team have been pretty inconsistent.

Yes, Arsenal lost against Liverpool this week, but the Reds are one of the best teams in Europe.

Arsenal played well against Jurgen Klopp’s side, and that will certainly encourage the team and the fans.

Now, of course, Villa will have the home advantage against the Gunners, but the North London club do have better players.

Moreover, Arsenal have something ‘concrete’ to play for between now and the end of the season.

Arteta and his players want to finish in the Premier League top four, and, in our view, that determination to get back into the Champions League will push them to a win against Villa.