Merson names Arsenal star who’d ‘get into the Man City team tomorrow’ as he makes Palace prediction

Joe Williams
Merson speaks on Liverpool

Paul Merson thinks Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard would “get into the Manchester City team tomorrow” after his recent impressive performances.

The Belgium international joined the Gunners from Brighton in the January transfer window in a deal worth around £27m.

Trossard has made a big impact in his short time at the north London club with the 28-year-old contributing one goal and five assists in nine Premier League appearances.

Arsenal face Crystal Palace – who sacked manager at Patrick Vieira on Friday morning – in the Premier League on Sunday with the Gunners able to pull eight points clear of second-placed Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s side are in FA Cup action.

And Merson reckons Arsenal will beat Palace 3-0, although he did make his prediction before the news about Vieira, and he is backing Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard to star.

Merson told Sportskeeda: “I’m going for an Arsenal win all day long – pick a scoreline! I’ve always said this and I firmly believe it matters who plays first in terms of the title race. Manchester City are in the FA Cup, so if Arsenal manage to win this week, they can go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

“City will have games in hand, but Arsenal need to do whatever they can to put pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side as we enter the business end of the season. People keep saying Arsenal have hard games between now and the end of the season, but I look at Manchester City’s run-in and it doesn’t look a whole lot easier.

“Crystal Palace, on the other hand, are already in a relegation battle, but the good thing for them is that there’s too much traffic between them and the bottom three. Patrick Vieira’s side [no longer] have a good set of fixtures coming up after Arsenal – every team they are set to face over the next six games is currently below them in the standings, so their clash against the Gunners becomes a bit of a free hit.

“As for Arsenal’s standout performer this season, it’s between Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, for me. The Arsenal captain has led from the front and produced the goods consistently, while Saka has scored some big goals for Mikel Arteta. I like players who show up in big games to score the opening goal or the winner and Saka has done exactly that this season.

“Leandro Trossard is another player I’ve been really impressed by – what an unbelievable signing he’s turning out to be for £28 million! He ticks many boxes and I think he’d get into the Manchester City team tomorrow.”

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