Paul Merson makes Premier League predictions including Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal

legend Paul Merson has made his predictions for another action-packed weekend of Premier League football.

Liverpool take on Watford at Anfield on Saturday lunchtime, with an opportunity to go top of the table.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are currently just one point shy of league leaders Manchester City, who face Burnley at Turf Moor later on Saturday.

Merson is expecting a tougher game for Liverpool against relegation-threatened Watford than some may expect, but is still backing the Reds to win.

‘This is a massive game for both teams. If Liverpool win, they’ll go top of the Premier League table and that’s absolutely unbelievable when you consider the fact that Manchester City were 14 points clear at one point,’ Merson told .

‘There’s never a right time to play a team like Liverpool, but wouldn’t mind the timing of this fixture. The Reds had a lot of players on international duty and with a huge UEFA game against Benfica coming up, will they look to rest a few players? Additionally, with coming on the back of another devastating defeat for Egypt, will that play on his mind?

‘With Trent Alexander-Arnold missing due to injury, might turn to Joe Gomez or James Milner to deputize at right-back. I think he’ll go with the latter, because when Milner plays, he hardly ever disappoints.

‘Liverpool should win this game, but it’ll be a lot harder than people think.’

Chelsea will be looking to strengthen their grip on third place in the table when they host Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Merson thinks Thomas Tuchel’s side will do exactly that by beating the Bees comfortably.

‘Brentford gotta pick their games between now and the end of the season. They are already safe from the drop in my opinion, but they still need a few more points to be absolutely sure they don’t get dragged into a relegation scrap in the coming weeks,’ Merson added.

‘Christian Eriksen played and scored in both games for Denmark during the international break, but will he play this one? His future is an interesting talking point, as Brentford only gave him a short-term deal. If they stay up and offer him a contract, I think he’ll look to take it because in many ways, Eriksen will feel indebted to Brentford for taking a chance on him when there weren’t too many teams queuing up to take him when he left Inter Milan.

‘I think Chelsea will win this game quite comfortably to cement third place in the Premier League.’

Manchester United’s sole focus is on the Premier League following their Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid before the international break.

The Red Devils face Leicester in England’s top flight on Saturday, and Merson believes Ralf Rangnick’s side will earn a narrow victory to put the pressure on fourth-placed Arsenal.

‘As I’ve said hundreds of times before, you never quite know what you’re going to get with Manchester United. Leicester have got a big UEFA Europa League game on Thursday and in all honesty, that’s a bigger game for them at this stage of the season than a Premier League clash against the Red Devils, so a handful of players could be rested for this one,’ Merson continued.

‘I keep on predicting Manchester United to win and I don’t know why, but I think they’ll win this one 2-1 and put major pressure on Arsenal.’

On Arsenal’s clash away at Crystal Palace on Monday night, Merson said: ‘I’ve predicted wins for Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham, so Arsenal have to win this one to be on track for a place in the Premier League top four.

‘Palace have a big game against Chelsea in the FA Cup to look forward to a little later in the month and the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise are injured, so they probably won’t be risked for this one.

‘Arsenal got a massive result against Aston Villa after losing to Liverpool and will do well with another win here. This is a big game with a lot of pressure, but I think Mikel Arteta and co will get all three points.’

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