Ex-Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson is expecting his former club to secure a narrow win when they face Aston Villa at the Emirates this evening.

Both teams head into the match off the back of disappointing results but Merson believes the Gunners will be determined not to extend their winless run to three games:

“Arsenal have done alright in the Premier League so far. People said it was a bad result the other day against Crystal Palace, but I think this is the kind of game they lost a couple of years ago. In recent weeks, they’ve kept sticking at it and need to win this one badly, as otherwise, it’ll quickly become three games without a win in the Premier League. Aston Villa, on the other hand, had a nightmare result against Wolves. They were 2-0 up with 10 minutes left on the clock but somehow squandered their advantage, as they made a series of wrong substitutions. It’ll be a tough game, but I expect Arsenal to just edge this one.”

Merson has gone with a 2-1 victory to Arsenal, which seems like a fair prediction, considering this is likely to be a close game between two evenly matched teams.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta will, however, want a more complete performance from his side after a patchy display against Crystal Palace earlier this week.

If his team get in front early on tonight, he will be hoping they can capitalise on their advantage rather than being too negative and sitting back on their lead.

Grabbing the three points would certainly give Arsenal momentum ahead of the matches coming up against Leeds and Leicester