Arsenal will face a stern test as they host Liverpool in a massive Premier League showdown on Super Sunday, with Paul Merson warning that a loss could spell the end of the Gunners’ title aspirations.
Mikel Arteta’s side is grappling with injuries and suspensions to several key players.
Captain Martin Odegaard has been sidelined since August, while William Saliba is unavailable after receiving a red card during the defeat to Bournemouth.
To add to the concerns, Bukayo Saka, who also missed the Bournemouth match, is a doubt for the Liverpool clash, leaving Arteta anxious about his fitness.
On the other side, Liverpool, under the guidance of Arne Slot, have enjoyed a near-perfect start to the season, sitting at the top of the Premier League table after winning all but one of their matches in all competitions.
Slot’s more controlled, tactical approach has made Liverpool difficult to break down, reducing the likelihood of Arsenal being overrun despite their injury woes.
With both teams fighting for crucial points, a close and hard-fought contest is expected, even as Arsenal contend with their depleted squad.
“This is a big football match, huge football match. I’ll go as far as saying if Arsenal get beat here, I think they’re out of it. I really do,” Paul Merson told Sky Sports.
“I hope they’re thinking like I’m thinking.
“Because if they lose this, they go seven behind Liverpool.
“I don’t see Man City not beating Southampton.
“So they will be seven or six points behind the two teams that were their biggest threat at the start of the season.
“That’s a lot of points, especially the way these teams are winning football matches.
“They beat the lesser teams. The gulf is massive at the moment.
“I would be shocked if Arsenal lost this and went on to win the league.
“I would be absolutely amazed. I would be flabbergasted.
“They are not just chasing one team down, they are chasing two.
“I know everybody will be sitting at home and everybody will be going, oh, there are 29 games left.
“But, at the start of the season when there were 38 games left, if I had said I will have Man City and Liverpool to win the league and you can have Arsenal but you have got to give me a seven and six points head start, you would not do it in a million years.
“And you would not do it now with 29 games to go.
“So, all this about this 29 games to go, Arsenal would be out of the title for me. They would be out. I just cannot see how they would catch it up with the figures that Man City have put up over the last five or six years.”
He added: “Oh, Saka’s majorly important. Majorly important.
“Down the right-hand side, him and Ben White have a great understanding and when Odegaard comes and joins him down that side as well, it’s a really strong right-hand side for Arsenal.
“He is a must. He performs week in, week out. He comes up with solutions. He is a winner. When people either double up on him or they want to shut him down on his weaker foot, he always comes up with different ideas. I am a big fan of Saka.
“The name of the game is keep on producing season in, season out. And he does that every single season. So, absolute credit to him. He will be a massive miss if he does not play.
“You know, you’re talking Saka, Odegaard, Saliba, they are their three, you know. You put [Declan] Rice in the equation there but they are their big, big four players.
“And if those three are not playing, I think Liverpool have got to make hay while the sun shines. I don’t see a better opportunity for Liverpool than this coming this weekend, if those players are not fit to play for Arsenal.”
“Saliba’s stats are because he’s playing with Gabriel as a partnership and that’s what it is. When he plays with Gabriel, they’re an amazing partnership.
“They are like Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke at Manchester United when they used to play up front. You get partnerships around the pitch and they are that strong. You take one of them out and they are not the same.”
He concluded: “The only advantage, where I do have a case for Arsenal, is that they are always going to be in the football match.
“This is not Jurgen Klopp’s team that are going to come and be hectic and steamroller Arsenal.
“They are not going to look and go, right, they have got three of their four best players out so we’re going to go and have a right go at them. Liverpool play the way they play and that is steady.
“I am not saying it is safe football, but it is a lot safer than what it was under Klopp.
“And I think Arsenal are always going to be in this football match and that is what gives them a little bit of a chance this weekend.”
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