Raheem Sterling or Mikel Merino? Paul Merson makes prediction for Arsenal’s clash with West Ham

Paul Merson expects Mikel Arteta to stick with Raheem Sterling in his starting XI for Arsenal’s ‘must-win’ match against West Ham, despite the forward’s ineffective performance at Leicester. A season-ending injury to Kai Havertz forced Mikel Arteta to field a new-look attack versus the Foxes, prompting some talk of Merino deputising in place of the German as a false nine.

Arteta instead opted to put his faith in a frontline of Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Sterling, who were frustrated by Premier League strugglers Leicester for the most part at the King Power Stadium. Sterling’s display was especially disappointing and the England international was taken off midway through the second half, with Merino introduced up front for the final 20 minutes.

The substitution proved a masterstroke as Merino headed home a pinpoint cross from man-of-the-match Nwaneri to break the deadlock around ten minutes later, before doubling Arsenal’s advantage with a superb first-time finish at the death. Merino’s late heroics have inevitably led to calls for the Spaniard to be given the nod from the start for this weekend’s London derby – but Merson believes Arteta will resist the urge to make changes up top at the Emirates.

‘Arsenal have an advantage this week since they are playing before Liverpool. If they beat West Ham, they close the gap at the top to just five points,’ ex-Arsenal and England midfielder Merson said in his Sportskeeda column. ‘If Liverpool lose to City on Sunday, the title race is wide open! This will still be a hard game for Arsenal, though.

I thought Arsenal struggled against Leicester until Mikel Merino scored two very good late goals. ‘West Ham were decent against Chelsea, I liked how they played even though they lost.’. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video.

Up Next. Merson added: ‘Arsenal were poor in the first 70 minutes against Leicester. The football wasn’t free-flowing at all. I was gutted for Raheem Sterling because for some reason he just can’t seem to get going at Arsenal. ‘Despite his goal in the last game, I think Merino will be left on the bench here. I expect Mikel Arteta to use the same front three he used against Leicester.

‘If it doesn’t work out he can always bring Merino on and hope for the same result.’. Though wary of the threat West Ham pose on the counter-attack, Merson predicts second-placed Arsenal will come away from Saturday’s all-London affair with a 1-0 victory.

‘West Ham will come out and frustrate Arsenal in this game, plus the Hammers have the firepower in the form of players who can pick you off,’ he continued. ‘They are also a better team in games where they are forced to rely on counter-attack. ‘Arsenal have a tricky run of fixtures after this game. This is a must-win clash and they must look at one game at a time rather than getting too ahead of themselves. This title is still well out of their hands, though.’.

Arteta was quick to defend Sterling’s showing against Leicester, instead focusing on the team’s shortcomings as a whole which he felt made life ‘very difficult’ for his attack. Asked whether the Chelsea loanee may need more game-time to build up his confidence, Arteta responded: ‘Yeah… and, as well, I think from everybody, to step up their game.

‘In the first half, especially in the first 20 to 25 minutes, we weren’t at our standards and it’s very difficult for our front players.’. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.