‘If we gathered 10 Tottenham fans’: Paul Merson makes bold claim about Arsenal and Chelsea

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Paul Merson has spoken of a “huge advantage” Arsenal have over Chelsea in which he used Tottenham Hotspur fans as part of an analogy.

The Highbury legend told the Daily Star that 10 Spurs fans could name the strongest Gunners XI.

Meanwhile, 10 of the biggest Blues fans wouldn’t be able to guess their own team’s best selection.

And this is the sign of a “huge advantage” Arsenal have over Chelsea ahead of their Premier League clash, said Merson.

On Sunday, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners take on Graham Potter’s Blues at Stamford Bridge in a 12pm kickoff.

While the Emirates Stadium outfit is in superb form, Chelsea have stumbled in the league in recent weeks.

Merson reckons that, in chopping and changing his team, Potter is “trying to keep everyone happy”.

But he feels that a lack of “reliability” could cost them in big games such as against Arsenal this weekend.

At the same time, Merson said Arteta’s “old-school” stance towards picking his best players could “maybe” catch up later this season.

“Mikel Arteta isn’t fussed about England at the World Cup and if his players go there burnt out, it isn’t his problem,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star. “He’s old-school. If you’re fit, you play and that’s what I like about him.

“In my opinion, that’s what gives Arsenal a huge advantage over Chelsea ahead of Sunday’s crunch meeting at Stamford Bridge.

“If we gathered 10 of the biggest Chelsea fans around and sat them around a table, not one of them could guess the line up this weekend. I’m talking about the ones that go every week.

“Yet if I gathered 10 Tottenham supporters and asked them to name the Arsenal team – they would all get it right.

“Absolutely the right way of thinking”

“That sums it up for me. Their team now picks itself, player for the player and I think they are the only team in the country where we can say ‘this will be the starting XI.’

“It feels like Graham Potter is trying to keep everyone happy at the moment, not fresh or it’s highly likely he still doesn’t know his best team.

“That’s all well and good but in these huge matches, you need reliability to dig you out big results.

“Arteta doesn’t have his fitness coaches telling him what to do. He makes the decisions himself and his say is final.

“Will it catch up on Arsenal later in the season? Maybe. But they want to get the points on the board and that is absolutely the right way of thinking.

“Chelsea just keep on changing their team every week. You just can’t get any fluency doing that and I think it works against them.”

Arteta has worked wonders with Arsenal – TBR View

A good analogy from Merson here, saying Tottenham fans could get their rivals’ weekend XI right while the biggest Chelsea fans would struggle to do the same with their own team.

It shows what a good job Arteta has done in putting together a team with a strong first XI.

But as well as that, Arsenal have strength in depth, with the likes of Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu now rotation players.

Last season, both of them were certainties to start, and their absences were felt massively.