Paul Merson believes Arsenal will go on to win the Premier League easily after they blew in-form Aston Villa away with a “statement” 4-1 win at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners, who were without the injured Declan Rice, scored four times in a rampant second-half display to end Premier League title rivals Villa’s club-equalling 11-match winning streak.
“It felt like more than three points, psychologically,” said Sky Sports‘ Jamie Carragher.
After scraping past Wolves, Everton and Brighton in their previous three fixtures, Arsenal were far from their fluent best against Villa in a first half where the weight of expectation of ending a 22-year wait for a title appeared to be hanging over them.
But they came alive after the break with a performance which will serve as a warning to Manchester City ahead of their match against Sunderland on New Year’s Day, live on Sky Sports (kick-off 8pm).
“It was an outstanding 30 minutes from Arsenal in the second half,” Merson said on Soccer Special. “They suffocated Aston Villa and made them look pretty average in the end.
“It’s a massive result for Arsenal.
“There have been a couple of results where they have just fallen over the line against Wolves and Brighton. They were tight games but up against the most in-form team in country, if not Europe, and Arsenal have dismantled them.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Arsenal’s match against Aston Villa in the Premier League
He added: “With the lead having been two points a draw against Villa and a Man City win on New Year’s Day, Pep Guardiola’s side would go top. But now, they have a five-point lead, and they have three extra goals because goal difference will be important with it being so tight.
“Looking at Arsenal, with the away fixtures they have already played and this result against Villa, I don’t know who will stop them. They play all the big teams apart from Man City at home and playing like that, it’s hard to see them being stopped.
“I think they win the Premier League quite easily.
“It was a statement result and Man City will have been watching. They will be thinking wow after that from Arsenal.”
Jesus: We won because of mentality
Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring their side’s fourth goal
After a goalless first half, the home side were ahead inside three minutes of the second period when Emiliano Martinez flapped at Bukayo Saka’s corner and the ball rolled in off Gabriel’s thigh.
Arsenal doubled their advantage on 52 minutes after Martin Zubimendi converted Martin Odegaard’s exquisite defence-splitting pass, with Leandro Trossard scoring from long range after 69 minutes to put the game firmly out of Villa’s reach.
Gabriel Jesus then netted his first goal since New Year’s Day just moments after coming on as a substitute before Ollie Watkins scored a consolation for the visitors in injury time.
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Gabriel Jesus comes off the bench to net Arsenal’s fourth against Aston Villa in the Premier League
The impressive victory was the perfect tonic for Mikel Arteta’s players against a team that dealt them a stoppage-time 2-1 defeat at Villa Park just 24 days ago.
“It was amazing,” Jesus told Sky Sports.
“It’s always hard to play against Villa. They come here at all times and try to hurt us.
“At the start you could see they were trying to delay the game. But we won because of the mentality.”
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Leandro Trossard’s stunner makes it three for Arsenal against Aston Villa in the Premier League
Arteta delighted with ‘prolific’ Arsenal
“I’m so happy,” said Gunners boss Mikel Arteta of his side’s emphatic display. “We play every three days, and today we played an opponent that has won 11 games in a row.
“They are a superb team, very difficult to play against, and we knew that we were going to have periods throughout the game.
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Martin Zubimendi’s ‘ruthless’ finish doubles Arsenal’s lead against Aston Villa in the Premier League
“We talked about emotionally how demanding it was going to be and we struggled in the first 10 minutes. Then we adjusted, got a bit more control. We didn’t manage to score and then in the second half we clicked.
“We competed for everything much better. The timing was better and the individual goals were fulfilled in an extraordinary way, and we were so efficient in everything that we did.
“Unlike in the last few games where we had so many big situations, today we were very prolific and accurate to make the difference.”
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Gabriel converts an Arsenal corner on his return after injury against Aston Villa in the Premier League
What’s next for Arsenal?
The Gunners travel to Bournemouth on Saturday, live on Sky Sports; kick off 5.30pm.
Saturday 3rd January 5:00pm
Kick off 5:30pm
Thursday 8th January 7:00pm
Kick off 8:00pm
They then end their festive set of fixtures with a home game against Liverpool, also live on Sky Sports on Thursday January 8; kick off 8pm.