“There’s only one way to defeat them” Paul Merson now predicts Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest
Paul Merson has provided his prediction for Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest and has also made an admission about Ange Postecoglou.
Nottingham Forest travel to the Emirates in Ange Postecoglou’s first game in charge, and the Australian will be hoping to kick off his time in the dugout with a win.
Both sides are coming off the break following a loss, and returning to winning ways will be the goal for both teams.
Mikel Arteta will be without William Saliba, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, while Forest have lost Ola Aina to injury.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is also unable to play against his parent team.
With all that being said, Paul Merson has given his verdict ahead of Saturday’s kick-off.
Paul Merson predicts Arsenal to beat Nottingham Forest
Paul Merson’s affinity for Arsenal is well-known, with the former player spending 12 years at the club during his career.
The pundit has been predicting this week’s fixtures, and when it comes to the Garibaldi against the Gunners, it isn’t positive for Ange Postecoglou.
Paul Merson said via his predictions, ‘This is a difficult game for Arsenal because everyone is expecting them to get back to winning ways against Nottingham Forest.’
‘After the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo, it will take Forest some time to get used to Ange Postecoglou. It’s like chalk and cheese. Nuno made them tight at the back and relied on the counter-attack, but we know how Postecoglou is someone who goes gung-ho with his approach.’
‘Arsenal need to win because they have some tricky fixtures coming up. I expect the Gunners to get the job done at the Emirates.’
Merson went on to predict that Arsenal would win 2-0.
That wouldn’t be the best of starts for Ange Postecoglou, and the Greek-born head coach will be hoping to prove Merson wrong in more ways than one.
Paul Merson ‘not sure’ on Ange Postecoglou’s playstyle
Paul Merson also admitted he loves watching Ange Postecoglou’s teams in action but was unsure whether he would quite like it if it was the team he supported.
Speaking on Ange’s style, Merson said, ‘Don’t get me wrong, I like watching Postecoglou’s teams because his playing style is entertaining. But I’m not sure I would like it if it was being played by my team!’
With very little time on the training ground, it is unclear how much Postecoglou has been able to drill his ideas into his team.
Ange’s style is known to be attacking, but after playing under Nuno Espirito Santo, the tactics from the Portuguese may still be more prominent in the players’ minds
The new head coach will want to impress as quickly as possible, and getting a result away at Arsenal would be the perfect opportunity to get his doubters onside.
