Ex-Arsenal star Paul Merson is expecting his former club to secure a comfortable victory against Southampton.

The Gunners may have dropped points from winning positions in their last two fixtures but Merson can’t see the Saints posing any problems for Mikel Arteta’s side:

“If you had to pick a game to bounce back this season, you’d take Southampton at home. I still think Arsenal will win the league this season, and they should be able to win this game.”

Merson has gone with a 3-0 win to Arsenal, which seems like a fair prediction, considering Southampton are sitting bottom of the Premier League table.

The fact that Arteta’s men will be playing at the Emirates too should give them an advantage, especially as the away side have only scored nine times on the road this season.

After recent slip-ups, though, the Gunners may be slightly nervous in the opening exchanges but, if they break the deadlock early on, you would expect them to wrap up a pretty straightforward win.

Extending the lead over Manchester City to seven points heading into the top-of-the-table clash next week is important and they should do the job on Friday evening.