Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal look set to miss out on the Premier League title (Photo: Getty)
Paul Merson says he’s concerned whether Arsenal can cope with the mental toll of losing back-to-back Premier League titles to Manchester City.
As predicted, the title race has come down to the final day of the season on Sunday when Arsenal will host Everton and City take on West Ham.
The Citizens are two points clear of the Gunners and as a result are heavy favourites to become the first club in history to win four consecutive English top-flight titles.
Arsenal bottled it in the title race last season, but regardless of the result this time round, this campaign has proved that Mikel Arteta’s side are the real deal and a force to be reckoned with.
But Gunners legend Merson is concerned that this defeat could spell trouble for the young team, telling Sportskeeda: ‘Arsenal have done absolutely nothing wrong this season and have recovered really well after throwing the title away last season, but the sad reality is that they look likely to finish second again.
‘They are a fantastic team with a very good young manager at the helm in Mikel Arteta and my only worry will be if they can recover mentally after two draining title charges.
‘It’s all about timing and Arsenal just have to live with the fact that they’ve become good at a time when Manchester City are virtually unbeatable across a 38-game Premier League season.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City could be the first English team to win four top-flight league titles in a row (Photo: Getty)
‘That’s why I consider [Jurgen] Klopp’s achievement of winning the league title with Liverpool a monumental achievement.’
As much as he would love to see his former side pull off a miracle on Sunday, Merson has predicted that City will get the job done with an easy victory over the Irons.
‘Everton will turn up and Sean Dyche will want his players to have a go, but I can’t see anything but an Arsenal win,’ he added.
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‘Manchester City have done their job and look well to win their record-breaking fourth Premier League title in a row. This is a nice game for them to play on the last day of the season but they have to score early to ease the nerves.
‘Against Tottenham, their nerves were jangling and they only started playing free-flowing football after Erling Haaland’s second goal. A lot of things can happen on the last day of the season and scoring first should be the name of the game for both Man City and Arsenal.
‘Predictions: Man City 2-0 West Ham. Arsenal 2-0 Everton.’
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