Former Arsenal star, Paul Merson has predicted Manchester United and Bournemouth to play a draw when both teams clash on Saturday afternoon in a Premier League fixture.
He also predicted that Liverpool will defeat Arsenal on Saturday evening.
Merson, however, predicted Chelsea to beat Crystal Palace on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
“This is a bit of a level game, isn’t it?” Merson told Sky Sports.
“Over the years you’d say these types of games are a walk in the park for Manchester United, but this is a hard game now.
“It’s a hard one to call, too. I went with Manchester United last week 2-1 against Everton because they’re Manchester United.
“It’s very hard to go against them. But I’m going for a draw here, and it’s a massive compliment to Bournemouth.
“That’s how far they’ve come, and also where Manchester United have gone too.
“United are sometimes better away, but Bournemouth will have a right go at them, and United are all over the place at the back.”
On the Arsenal vs Liverpool game, Merson said: “I can’t see anything but a Liverpool win. “I think this is the day Arsenal show some big cracks.
“We saw Leicester rip Arsenal to shreds for 30 minutes; they scored, Harry Maguire missed a sitter, they had a stonewall penalty turned down. Leicester’s front three aren’t even in the same class as Liverpool’s. I just cannot see how Arsenal will live with them.
“People will say: ‘Oh Arsenal will score goals…’ but Liverpool’s defence has been superb. I watched Arsenal win 11 games on the trot, and they could have easily lost four of them, let alone drawn them.
“I just think the defence is terrible, all over the place, and no different to what it was before.
“If Hector Bellerin is injured, you’re talking about Granit Xhaka at left-back, a central midfield player, and Stephan Lichtsteiner at right-back, who has been a good player but is nearly 35 now. How many 35-year-olds are there in the Premier League?”
Commenting on the Chelsea vs Crystal Palace game, Merson added: “I thought Palace did well against Arsenal, but Chelsea are in a different league. They’ll be too good, too strong for Palace at the Bridge.
“Chelsea are playing well – they’re not the finished article but you can see smatterings of brilliance and the way Maurizio Sarri wants them to play. He’s getting the best out of certain players.
“I’m going for a Chelsea win, and for all three top teams to stay unbeaten still, which is unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, the kick-off time for Man United vs Bournemouth is 1:30pm, Arsenal vs Liverpool is 6:30pm, while that of Chelsea vs Crystal Palace is 5pm.
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