Paul Merson reveals his Arsenal v Crystal Palace prediction

Paul Merson is backing Arsenal to coast to a 3-0 home victory against Crystal Palace in their Premier League clash at The Emirates on Sunday.

The north London side have the chance to move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a victory against the Eagles, as second-placed Manchester City are in FA Cup action and will not play in the top flight until after the forthcoming international break.

Arsenal start the weekend five points clear at the summit of the table thanks to their 3-0 victory away to Fulham last weekend as the Gunners eye their first title since the 2003-04 campaign.

Gabriel Jesus could return to the starting line-up for the Gunners after he made his return from injury at Craven Cottage last weekend – and Mikel Arteta’s side are aiming for their sixth straight win in the top flight.

Former Arsenal and England midfielder Merson feels that the Gunners will not have any problems against Patrick Vieira’s side at The Emirates – and he’s tipping them to claim all three points with a comfortable win.

“I’m going for an Arsenal win all day long – pick a scoreline!” Merson wrote in his column for Sportskeeda. “I’ve always said this and I firmly believe it matters who plays first in terms of the title race. Manchester City are in the FA Cup, so if Arsenal manage to win this week, they can go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal legend Paul Merson (Photo: Sky Sports)

“City will have games in hand, but Arsenal need to do whatever they can to put pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side as we enter the business end of the season. People keep saying Arsenal have hard games between now and the end of the season, but I look at Manchester City’s run-in and it doesn’t look a whole lot easier.

“Crystal Palace, on the other hand, are already in a relegation battle, but the good thing for them is that there’s too much traffic between them and the bottom three. Patrick Vieira’s side have a good set of fixtures coming up after Arsenal – every team they are set to face over the next six games is currently below them in the standings, so their clash against the Gunners becomes a bit of a free hit.”

The return of Gabriel Jesus to the Arsenal team could provide the Gunners with a timely boost as they prepare for the Premier League run-in.

Speaking before Arsenal’s clash against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday, Arteta underlined the impact the Brazilian’s return can have.

Gabriel Jesus (Photo: Mark Cosgrove / News Images / depositphotos.com)

“It was great to see Gabby back,” said Arteta. “You can feel the happiness of everybody around him: supporters, players, and staff. We missed him and now we’re glad he’s back.

“We have to manage his minutes and we have to manage his involvement in the squad and in the team. But Gabby is feeling good every day that he’s training. He says that these senses are getting better and better, so that’s really positive.”

A victory for Arsenal would leave them eight points clear of Manchester City, having played a game more than the defending champions, with 10 games left to play this season.