Paul Merson: If Arsenal Are Still Top On Boxing Day, They’ll Be Champions

Paul Merson backing Arsenal for the league…

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson is backing his former club to win the league this season if they can get through the next four fixtures unscathed, Sky Sports reports.

Speaking before our win on Saturday against Wolves, Merson feels that the busy December schedule will test our squad’s limits and is backing us to last the pace if we remain at the top by Boxing Day.

We travel to Luton and Aston Villa next week before Brighton visits the Emirates Stadium – a game we’ve lost in the past two encounters.

Our pre-Christmas schedule ends at Anfield, a ground we haven’t won at in the Premier League since 2012 and one that started our title collapse last season.

Mikel Arteta’s squad will be put to the test this month and with the boss not confident of getting any of our injured players back for this run of games, he’ll be praying that Takehiro Tomiyasu’s calf problem doesn’t keep him out for too long.

“Five games coming up before Boxing Day,” Merson said when asked to rate Arsenal’s title chances.

“Big five games. If Arsenal get through these, I think Arsenal will win the league. The next five games, they go Wolves, Luton, Villa away, Brighton and Liverpool, they win those five games, they’ll win the league.”

Following the game at Anfield, we end December with games against West Ham United and Fulham before the squad prepares for a winter break.

Arteta is reportedly set to take the squad to Dubai in January which will provide him with some much-needed respite and time to assess his options.

The fact that the winter break coincides with the opening of the transfer window is also a bonus as the boss looks at ways to strengthen the squad for the remainder of the campaign.