‘You wouldn’t see Man City do that’ - Paul Merson dismisses Arsenal title hopes

Paul Merson has said Manchester City don’t get enough credit for their outstanding football, and feels Pep Guardiola’s side will collect a record fourth consecutive top-flight title.

The champions picked up another invaluable three points on Sunday when they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the City Ground thanks to goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland. It meant the gap remained at just one point in the Premier League title race after Arsenal’s 3-2 win against Tottenham Hotspur briefly extended the Gunners’ advantage to four points.

But City’s game in hand against Spurs in two weeks’ time means they’re in the driving seat at this late stage. The Cityzens also face Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham and West Ham United before the season’s conclusion, and Merson said he expects them to take maximum points in those games.

“I can’t see them not winning any of those games,” the former Arsenal midfielder said on Sky Sports. “Wolves are struggling with injuries, have got a couple of players back but aren’t at full strength. 

“Fulham are a nice team. I think Fulham are the one, they might hurt them. I think if you give them [Fulham] the chances that they [Forest] had today, they could cause you problems. But they [City] are too good.

“I know people will say not to give up, but they are proven. It’s not like they’ve never done it before, they’ve done it so many times before. I feel they become a better team when they have to win football matches. They just get together and win.

“They’re so good and I don’t think we give them enough credit for that. They play under severe pressure and keep going, week in, week out.”

City weren’t at their best on Sunday but never looked under any real threat of slipping up, and Haaland’s 71st minute goal ensured it was a comfortable end to proceedings in Nottingham. In contrast, Arsenal faced a frantic finale at Tottenham after letting a three-goal lead slip and gifting Spurs two soft goals.

For Merson, the two-time league champion, he felt it shows the difference between the two title rivals. “You wouldn’t see Man City do that,” he opined. “Fair play, you have to win games and the main thing is they’ve come here and won.

“What worries me is, I see them winning the next three games but I see the Man United game [on 12 May] as a hard game. If they win the next three games and don’t win the league, I don’t know how that’s going to affect them for next season. You win the next three games and you come back and go ‘what else can we do?’.”