Although he’s an acquired taste as a pundit, former Arsenal ace, Paul Merson, isn’t backwards with coming forwards when he’s asked for his opinion.
Far too often those working in broadcasting but who’ve had a past in the game prefer to sit on the fence, but Merson is always forthright and he deserves credit for that whether people agree with his views or not.
When it comes his old employers, it really isn’t a surprise that he will almost always espouse their virtues, and it’s fair to say that he doesn’t give Tottenham a hope of winning Sunday afternoon’s north London derby.
“I’m bullish, very bullish. I can’t see anything but an Arsenal win. I think they will absolutely slaughter them, I do. Absolutely rip them to shreds,” he said on Sky Sports (h/t Daily Mail).
“I don’t think [Spurs] will change the way they play. Man United had 14 shots against them in the first half; give Arsenal 14 shots on Sunday and we will see what happens.
“It’s end to end, it’s good football, I like the way they play, I like the manager. It’s gung-ho football. But you don’t play gung-ho football against better players than you.
“Arsenal have got better players than Tottenham, no question, all over the pitch. You talk about [James] Maddison, good player but you would not take him over [Martin] Odegaard any day of the week.
“[Yves] Bissouma has done well, but you wouldn’t take him over [Declan] Rice, in my opinion
“All over the pitch they are better players. Not many Spurs players get into this team, and if you open this game up on Sunday then Arsenal will destroy Tottenham. And I mean destroy them.”
Given how well Spurs are also playing this season, Merson runs the risk of seeing his words come back to bite him.
In many respects the pressure is all on the Gunners, being the home team and also a club that broke their transfer record during the summer.
If they don’t hit their stride early in the game and allow ‘Ange ball’ to take hold, then it could be a very interesting after indeed.
For once, Tottenham won’t go into the game with an inferiority complex, and whilst their record at the Emirates isn’t great (two wins in all competitions according to 11 v 11), records are there to be broken.