Ex-Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson expects his former club to record a narrow win when they take on Aston Villa this weekend.

Mikel Arteta’s side head into the game off the back of beating rivals Spurs and, writing in his Sportskeeda column, Merson says he is backing the Gunners to follow up that result with another victory:

“Aston Villa stopped Arsenal from winning the league title last season and that will still be in the players’ minds. Villa are grinding out some results and they have enough firepower to trouble Arsenal in the form of Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins. They will fancy their chances at the Emirates because Arsenal will have a go and it will open up spaces for them.”

“Arsenal have had two difficult games in the space of a few days. If they can follow up that derby win over Tottenham with a win against Villa, that will be massive. Arsenal are not out of the title race, they have very little margin for error, yes. But they are not out of it at all! I’m going to go with Arsenal here, but only just. This will be a tight game.”

What score is Merson predicting?

The Sky Sports pundit has gone with a 2-1 win for Arsenal, which is a scoreline that fans would be happy with, considering the calibre of the opposition.

As mentioned, the Villans won this fixture last campaign, and Arteta’s men need to start the match strongly and impose their game on their opponents, who don’t have a strong away record.

Unai Emery’s men may have beaten Everton at Goodison Park last time out, but they have lost 5 of their 10 fixtures on the road this season.

Arsenal v Aston Villa team news

It has been confirmed that Gabriel Jesus has suffered an ACL injury. The Brazilian is unlikely to play again before September.

Riccardo Calafiori is a doubt with a knee problem, while Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ben White (knee), Ethan Nwaneri (muscular) and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been ruled out.

Villan are without Diego Carlos, Pau Torres (both foot), John McGinn (hamstring) and Ross Barkley (calf).

Read our exclusive interview with Emmanuel Petit as he issues his verdict on Arsenal signing Marcus Rashford