Paul Merson and Chris Sutton make same Man City point as Wolves vs Arsenal predictions made

Bruna Reis

20 April 2024 at 6:01 am·3-min read

Arsenal must return to winning ways against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday evening, to challenge for the Premier League title after crushing out of the Champions League.

Mikel Arteta's team lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at Allianz Arena. The sides drew 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium in the previous week, but were a goal short in Germany.

Prior to that, they suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa and remained level on points with Liverpool while Manchester City are two points clear at the top of the table. Ahead of a must-win game, Arsenal will head to Molineux and pundits Paul Merson and Chris Sutton have shared their predictions with both saying Arsenal can still ensure City don't have the title race go all their own way - starting with a win over Wolves.

Former Arsenal ace, Merson, wrote in his Sports Keeda column: "How quickly does football change? All of a sudden, Arsenal are up against it and their season has unraveled in the past week. I always thought this was going to be a hard game but it's much more difficult now after their results against Aston Villa and Bayern Munich.

"The Bavarians were far the better team in the second half and I have no qualms in admitting that Arsenal got dominated. Their season could just fizzle out in the coming weeks, but they won't want to let that happen. They have to win all their remaining games in the Premier League and see where it takes them.

"If Arsenal manage to get wins against Wolves, Chelsea and Tottenham in their next three games, then Manchester City will need to win each of their remaining games to seal the title. This will be a hard game for the Gunners, away from home, but they will look to respond after what has been a disastrous week. They've thrown away the league and if we're being really honest, they never really looked like beating one of the weakest Bayern Munich side in ages. They are so close, yet so far out in terms of winning trophies."

Prediction: Wolves 1-2 Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Sutton told BBC Sport: "This is a massive game for Arsenal but it definitely helps them that Wolves are on a pretty terrible run, without a win in four games. The talk this week about the Gunners has been whether the wheels are coming off, but I don't think that's the case.

"They maybe lacked a bit of composure in their defeat by Aston Villa. But Villa have got some very good players, as do Bayern Munich, who beat them in Germany on Wednesday. I'd put Arsenal's Champions League defeat down to their failure to win the first leg at Emirates Stadium, and it would have been a different story if Bukayo Saka hadn't dived when he was through on goal late on in that game.

"I'm still probably basing this prediction more on Wolves' form than on Arsenal's but I do think the Gunners will find a way to win at Molineux. I hope they do too, because I don't want Manchester City to have it all their own way in the run-in."

Prediction: Wolves 0-1 Arsenal.