Paul Merson makes Aston Villa v Arsenal result prediction

Add as preferred source on Google

Aston Villa and Arsenal lock horns in Saturday’s early Premier League kickoff.

Both the Villans and the Gunners lost their top-flight fixtures last time out.

Steven Gerrard’s charges went down 2-1 to West Ham last Sunday, while Arsenal lost 2-0 against Liverpool in midweek.

Villa have improved massively under Gerrard and will hope to consolidate a top-half finish this term.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are desperate to secure a top-four finish and return to the Champions League next season.

Both sides had embarked on winning runs prior to their defeats last time out.

Villa had won three in a row, while Arsenal had secured five consecutive top-flight wins.

There will be plenty of attacking talent on display at Villa Park, potentially making for an exciting game.

The likes of Philippe Coutinho, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli should all feature.

“Might not prove to be as straightforward”

Paul Merson, who played for both Villa and Arsenal, has predicted how both sides will fare in the match.

He believes the Gunners would’ve been favourites to win a fortnight ago, but now he thinks a 2-2 draw is on the cards.

“Arsenal played very well in the first half against Liverpool,” Merson wrote on Sportskeeda.

“(They) 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.”