Paul Merson has urged Arsenal to score the first goal against Leicester City this weekend if they want to calm their Premier League title nerves.
Mikel Arteta's men currently lead the pack, sitting two points clear of second-placed Manchester City despite having played one less league match than the reigning champions. The north Londoners defeated Aston Villa 4-2 last weekend in what was a thoroughly entertaining affair at Villa Park, ending a four-game winless run across all competitions.
Now, Gunners hero Merson has told his former side to try and avoid conceding an early goal against Leicester, claiming that Arteta's side have suffered from nerves recently due to starting matches uncharacteristically slow. Writing for Sportskeeda, he said: "Arsenal have a relatively easy set of fixtures coming up and if City falter in any of these upcoming gameweeks, the Gunners could well be on their way to winning the title.
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"Arsenal are the team to watch right now. Arteta's side seem to get a little nervous on occasion and they're a bit caught in between wanting to be defensively solid and going all-out in attack.
"They should ideally score the first goal and if they do that, they'll play their best football for the rest of the game. But they haven't been doing that much in recent games and that's what has led to them being shaky at the back because the nerves start to show.
"I expect Arsenal to come out on top in an entertaining game."
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