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

Paul Merson cannot see anyone stopping Arsenal in the Premier League this season, likening Mikel Arteta's "machine" to the Chelsea team that dominated under Jose Mourinho in his first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The former Arsenal forward also discusses Man Utd's recent revival under Ruben Amorim and his concern for Liverpool after Arne Slot's long-ball comments.

There is also praise for Bournemouth and Sunderland as they find themselves in the top four and he reveals why there will be some established Premier League teams worrying for their top-flight future.

Read on for the Sky Sports pundit's thoughts in full on some of the major talking points from the Premier League following the weekend fixtures...

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Merse likens Arsenal to Jose's Chelsea

I don't see anyone stopping Arsenal.

They are an efficient machine but with super footballers in that machine.

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

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

Teams are not even getting a shot. The numbers they are producing defensively are unheard of.

They are well-drilled, efficient and they do have flair players that can create and score goals, just like Mourinho's Chelsea did.

I'd be flabbergasted if Arsenal didn't win the league.

People will say there are 30 games left but we are only a once-in-a-season strike from Dominik Szoboszlai from asking the question: 'Who beats Arsenal this season?'

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

One goal will do for Arsenal and what a feeling that must be for the forwards.

'Man Utd have turned a corner'

There are fine lines in football.

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

Manchester United are getting a bit of luck now, which they weren't getting.

The big players are also performing, and you can see the confidence has returned.

The Man Utd players were never bad players, they just lacked confidence, but now they are starting to play and that was a good win against Brighton. They got handily beat by Brighton last year so getting four goals was a superb result.

They are now starting to turn a corner.

They had back-to-back wins, and I was still concerned about this Brighton game. I thought it was a real banana skin for them.

It's still early days but that win tells me they are slowly building some momentum.

'Slots comments a concern'

I didn't like Arne Slot's comments about not being able to handle long balls and then the low block.

They just bought Florian Wirtz in for over £100m to be able to get past 10 players behind the ball.

He's a great player. He's got a good football brain, and he has the guile to unlock a defence, that's why they bought him.

They haven't got Trent Alexander-Arnold anymore and he was a big part of Liverpool breaking teams down. A lot is now on Wirtz but he's struggling.

He won't have faced teams like Brentford in Germany. The result on Saturday doesn't happen much in places like Germany, Spain and Italy, but in the Premier League it's not uncommon for a lesser team to go and score three goals against a favourite for the title and the defending champions.

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

Liverpool also have the best centre-half in the world in Virgil van Dijk. That's why Slot's long-ball comments are a big concern.

People are now looking to hurt Liverpool in that way. Teams are trying to get the ball forward and Brentford had so much success.

Liverpool will have to find answers and quickly. They know what is coming their way for the next couple of weeks.

'What a story down on the south coast'

If Bournemouth was a book you'd throw it in the sea. You'd be saying what a load of rubbish, that can't happen.

It's so farfetched.

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

It's incredible.

Let's not forget their stadium holds less than 12,000. It's quite unbelievable what they are doing, especially in this age of the Premier League where players are going regularly for over £100m. You'd think Bournemouth would have no chance.

For them to be second in the league is an incredible story.

'Sunderland's head of recruitment deserves a knighthood'

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

Granit Xhaka has been some buy, but it is not just him. Every player that has come in has been exceptional.

That's the first time I have seen a whole Sunderland game on Saturday, and they were superb.

When I saw Arsenal's fixtures recently, I thought they had such an easy run of games. But, in a couple of weeks, Sunderland are going to give them such a hard game at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland will cause Arsenal problems. They are an athletic team with pace. They are well drilled and organised, and they counter with pace. They also make the right decisions on the counter, picking the right pass. They didn't waste the ball when they had it.

I was so impressed with them at Stamford Bridge, and you have to say they are safe.

I don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on them, but they don't have to worry about relegation now after this start. They need another four or five wins in 29 football matches and I expect them to do that easy.

'Some established Premier League teams will be panicking'

There will be a few established Premier League teams panicking.

A few owners of clubs will be worried after the starts of Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley.

They will be thinking they should have had more of a go in the transfer window.

They've been lazy.

The likes of Wolves and West Ham near the bottom have been caught in a trap. They've thought there is no point in spending big money because they won't get relegated. In the past few years, the sides that have come up haven't been good enough, but that is not the case this season.

Now, they will be panicking and there will be plenty of clubs sweating on the January transfer window.

But the way the promoted teams are going, it may be too late.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Arsenal machine reminds me of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, says Paul Merson as Gunners lead Premier League by four points