Arsenal will be “out of the Premier League title race” if they can’t secure three points against Liverpool this weekend, according to Paul Merson.

The Gunners can close the gap on the Reds if they do win at the Emirates on Sunday and, writing in his column for Sportskeeda, Merson says anything but a victory could prove fatal to Mikel Arteta’s team’s chances of finishing top of the table:

“This is once again a must-win game for Arsenal. If they lose, they are out of the Premier League title race and a draw is no good either, so they absolutely have to go for it.”

Merson doesn’t believe that his former club will get the win they need either, as he predicts that it will be a 2-2 draw on Sunday.

Arsenal have had the upper hand against Liverpool in their last 2 matches

The draw at Anfield and the defeat in the FA Cup at the Emirates may suggest otherwise, but the Gunners were the better team in both of those games.

In the league fixture, Arteta’s men started very strongly but they failed to capitalise and allowed their opponents back into the match.

They also squandered numerous opportunities in the FA Cup tie and, 9 times out of 10, the home side would have come out on top in that game.

Merson is being a bit hyperbolic with his statemate

While dropping two points against the Reds would not be ideal, it would certainly not be the end of the world either in terms of  Arsenal’s hopes of finishing first.

A draw may keep them five points behind their opponents in the table but there will still be 15 games remaining after Sunday’s fixture. A lot can still happen between now and May, and ruling out the Gunners as title contenders if they don’t secure victory would be very premature.