Arsenal machine reminds me of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, says Paul Merson as Gunners lead Premier League by four points | Football news

Paul Merson sees no one stopping Arsenal in the Premier League this season, comparing Mikel Arteta's 'machine' to the Chelsea side that dominated under Jose Mourinho during his first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The former Arsenal striker also discusses Man Utd's recent renaissance under Ruben Amorim and his concern for Liverpool after Arne Slot's lengthy comments.

There is also praise for Bournemouth and Sunderland moving into the top four and he reveals why some established Premier League sides will be worried about their futures in the top flight.

Continue reading for the Aerial sports The expert's full thoughts on some of the Premier League's main talking points following the weekend's matches…

Merse compares Arsenal to José's Chelsea

I don't see anyone stopping Arsenal.

It's an efficient machine but with great footballers in this machine.

They remind me of the Chelsea team of old under Jose Mourinho. As soon as the Chelsea team took the lead, the game was over. It was the same playing for my Arsenal team. Score a goal and you go back to the halfway line, and you could see in the opposition faces that they knew it was over.

I saw this last Wednesday while watching Atletico Madrid at the Emirates. Once Arsenal took that lead, it was the end of the game and Atletico knew it. That's the feeling you get with Arsenal now.

The teams don't even have a chance. The numbers they produce defensively are unprecedented.

They are well-coached, efficient and have a flair for creating and scoring goals, just like Mourinho's Chelsea.

I would be stunned if Arsenal didn't win the championship.

People will say there are 30 games left, but Dominik Szoboszlai only strikes once a season asking the question: “Who is beating Arsenal this season?”

They have the best defensive record in all of Europe, so you don't need to score multiple goals to win football matches.

A goal will do it for Arsenal and what a feeling that must be for the strikers.

“Man Utd have reached a milestone”

There are fine lines in football.

There was a shirt removal from Luke Shaw and with a better touch from Yankuba Minteh, Patrick Dorgu receives a red card.

Manchester United now have a bit of luck, which they didn't have.

The big players are also performing well and we see that confidence has returned.

Man Utd players were never bad players, they just lacked confidence, but now they are starting to play and it was a good win against Brighton. They were easily beaten by Brighton last year, so scoring four goals was a superb result.

They are now starting to turn a corner.

They've had back-to-back wins and I was still concerned about that Brighton game. I thought it was a real banana peel for them.

It's still early, but this win tells me they're slowly gaining momentum.

“Slots comments are concerning”

I didn't like Arne Slot's comments about his inability to handle long balls and then low blocks.

They have just bought Florian Wirtz for over £100m so they can get past 10 players behind the ball.

He's a great player. He has a good football brain and he has the guile to unlock a defense, which is why they bought him.

They no longer have Trent Alexander-Arnold and he has played a huge role in destroying Liverpool's teams. A lot is weighing on Wirtz now, but he is struggling.

He will not have faced teams like Brentford in Germany. Saturday's result doesn't happen often in countries like Germany, Spain and Italy, but in the Premier League it's not uncommon for a lesser team to score three goals against a title favorite and reigning champion.

This doesn't happen anywhere else in the world and that's why it can be difficult for new players. You don't get any free games in the Premier League.

Liverpool also have the best central defender in the world, Virgil van Dijk. This is why Slot's lengthy comments are a big concern.

People are now looking to harm Liverpool in this way. Teams try to move the ball forward and Brentford have been so successful.

Liverpool will need to find answers and quickly. They know what awaits them in the coming weeks.

“What a story on the south coast”

If Bournemouth were a book you'd throw it into the sea. You'd say what a load of rubbish, this can't happen.

This is so far-fetched.

They sold three defenders this summer to three of the biggest clubs in the world: Real Madrid, PSG and Liverpool, and they are second in the league.

It's incredible.

Let's not forget that their stadium can accommodate less than 12,000 people. It's pretty incredible what they do, especially in the era of the Premier League where players regularly earn over £100 million. You'd think Bournemouth wouldn't have a chance.

For them, being second in the championship is an incredible story.

'Sunderland recruitment manager deserves knighthood'

Whoever is in charge of Sunderland's recruitment needs a knighthood.

Granit Xhaka was a buy, but it's not just him. Every player who arrived was exceptional.

This is the first time I've seen a full Sunderland game on Saturday, and they were superb.

When I saw Arsenal's games recently, I thought they had such an easy run of games. But, in a few weeks, Sunderland will offer them a very difficult match at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland will cause problems for Arsenal. They are an athletic team with pace. They are well trained and organized, and they counter with pace. They also make the right decisions at the counter, selecting the right pass. They didn't waste the ball when they had it.

I was so impressed with them at Stamford Bridge, and it must be said that they are safe.

I don't want to put unnecessary pressure on them, but they no longer have to fear relegation after this departure. They need four or five more wins in 29 football matches and I expect them to achieve that easily.

'Some established Premier League teams will panic'

A few established Premier League teams will panic.

Some club owners will be worried after the departures of Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley.

They will think they should have taken their chances harder in the transfer window.

They were lazy.

The likes of Wolves and West Ham, near the bottom, were caught out. They thought there was no point spending a lot of money because they wouldn't be relegated. In recent years, the teams that have come forward haven't been good enough, but that's not the case this season.

Now they will panic and many clubs will sweat during the January transfer window.

But given the evolution of the promoted teams, it may be too late.