‘A major threat’: Paul Merson makes prediction for Chelsea v Arsenal

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Chelsea and Arsenal will face off at Stamford Bridge in a big London derby in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

Mauricio Pochettino’s charges will be hoping to maintain their good form after winning their last three in a row in all competitions before the international break.

However, they have a tough task on their hands, as they take on a Gunners outfit in title-challenging mood.

Arsenal delivered a real statement of intent prior to the international break, defeating Manchester City 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Gunners legend Paul Merson, writing on Sportskeeda, has now predicted the result of the clash between Pochettino’s Blues and Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.

The Highbury icon reckons it’ll be a high-scoring but evenly-matched encounter between the two London sides, predicting a 2-2 draw.

‘Arsenal are a settled unit’

Merson also noted how the Blues are “just starting out” on their project under Pochettino, while Arsenal are now a “polished team” and “settled unit”.

He wrote: “The only problem for Chelsea is that Arsenal are a polished team. Chelsea are just starting out, and that’s a big disadvantage for them this weekend.

“Arsenal are a settled unit and they know exactly what they’re doing. Chelsea are a hard team to predict – against teams that come out and play, they can be a major threat.

“The best game Chelsea have played at home this season was against Liverpool.

“Chelsea had built up some good momentum before the international break, and a lot depends on how they come back from the break.

“I’m going to go with a draw here, but if you asked me to get off the fence, I’d pick Arsenal to have the upper hand.”

In terms of other predictions, Gary Neville has also predicted a draw, while Chris Sutton reckons Arsenal will prevail and Michail Antonio thinks Chelsea will win.

As per The Overlap, Neville thinks it’ll be a 1-1 draw.

On BBC Sport, Sutton thinks Arsenal will run out 1-0 winners in West London.

And on the Footballer’s Football podcast, Antonio feels it’ll be a 1-0 win for the Blues on their own turf.

Our view

This is definitely a tricky fixture to call.

On paper, you’d probably call Arsenal the favourites. As Merson said, they’re more “polished”.

In addition, recent history favours the Gunners. They have won in six of the past seven meetings with the Blues.

However, Pochettino’s squad is full of great players, and they look like they’re starting to click.

Also, they’re at home, so that could well give them the edge.

In terms of my prediction, I’ll sit on the fence and call this a 1-1 draw.