Paul Merson's Premier League predictions: Chelsea to bounce back, Arsenal to ease pressure

By Paul Merson, Football Expert & Columnist @PaulMerse

Image: Paul Merson is back with his midweek Premier League predictions

The Premier League is back, and so is Paul Merson with his midweek predictions...

Premier League goals on your mobile

Watch in-game goals and highlights on Wednesday in the Football Score Centre app...

There's six more fixtures on Wednesday including some crunch matches at the top of the table, as Chelsea host Manchester City, while Arsenal face West Ham and Tottenham travel to Swansea.

Get Sky Sports for £18

Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months for just £18 per month!

Read on to see what Soccer Saturday pundit Merson is tipping...

Chelsea v Man City - Wednesday, 8pm

I just don't see how Man City are going to contain Chelsea. They're all over the place at the back at the moment. I think Chelsea will bounce back here.

Which Man City are we going to get? The great Man City from the first 15 minutes against Arsenal, where they ripped them to shreds?

Advertisement

This video is only available on Skysports.com.
Open to watch

I think there is still a title race, because I've got Tottenham to win, and then I fancy them to win again early Saturday against Watford, so that would be four points.

I think the gap will close over the next three or four weeks, but Chelsea to win here.

Also See:

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (16/1 with Sky Bet)

Liverpool v Bournemouth - Wednesday, 8pm

Liverpool struggle against the lesser teams at home, but if they can win this, back-to-back wins, they'll cement their place in the top four.

Philippe Coutinho is back in form, and he looked superb on Saturday against Everton. He's the key to them against these sides near the bottom of the table.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (9/1 with Sky Bet)

Arsenal v West Ham - Wednesday, 7.45pm

I like Slaven Bilic, I think he's a good manager, but it's just one of those seasons. West Ham are struggling at the moment, and you'd expect Arsenal to win this game with the way the Hammers are playing.

Image: Merse has tipped Arsenal to return to winning ways

The last 20 minutes against Man City for Arsenal was like an Emirates Cup game, like Austria v West Germany in the World Cup many years back. It was like: "That's a draw, we're both happy with that." Neither side wanted to lose.

West Ham are struggling, so I'm going with Arsenal.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (15/2 with Sky Bet)

Hull v Middlesbrough - Wednesday, 7.45pm

Marco Silva has not lost a home game in three years. That is some record.

I thought Hull were fortunate on Saturday; they went 1-0 down against West Ham, never looked like scoring, and then they suddenly scored, got on the ride and went on to win the game.

This is a massive, massive game. Boro needed more than a draw at Swansea, especially with Rudy Gestede's chance at the end, he's just got to score with that chance. I'm going to go with another draw.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (9/2 with Sky Bet)

Swansea v Tottenham - Wednesday, 7.45pm

Swansea v Boro was a weird game; the draw was good for nobody. You look at Swansea, that was the game they had to win, to put a bit of distance between them and the bottom three with Spurs at home coming up.

Image: Tottenham will be looking to keep the pressure on Chelsea in the title race

I'm going to go with Tottenham. It was a professional performance at Burnley. It was difficult at first but they turned it on.

PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (7/1 with Sky Bet)

Southampton v Crystal Palace - Wednesday, 7.45pm

I'm going to go Palace here. They've got some really, really tough fixtures coming up, and they need to win this. They have the hardest run-in, so they need to get a gap between them and the bottom three.

If they win this, I think they'll be OK. Because then, Sam Allardyce can set his side up not to lose against the big teams.

You don't want to go into those games against the bigger teams needing to win. He's the best in the business at getting draws against those big teams.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (14/1 with Sky Bet)

Sky customers can now upgrade to Sky Sports and get 12 months for just £18 per month. Upgrade now!

Outbrain