Ex-Aston Villa striker ‘really worried’ about Steven Gerrard’s side as grim Arsenal clash prediction is cast

Former Aston Villa striker Chris Sutton has is tipping his old side to suffer a resounding defeat against Arsenal on Wednesday night and says he is “really worried” about Steven Gerrard’s side.

The midlands club have won just one of their opening four Premier League matches ahead of their trip to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night whereas Arsenal have been in terrific form with four wins from four.

Sutton, a Premier League winner with Blackburn Rovers who played for Villa between 2006 and 2007, has a reputation for being outspoken as a pundit for broadcasters such as BT Sport, Sky Sports and TalkSPORT.

Here is what the former England International thinks about Villa’s chances on Wednesday night:

“Signings haven’t paid off so far” - Sutton “worried” about Villa

Sutton was writing his predictions as part of BBC Sport’s weekly ‘Premier League Predictions’ series where a pundit goes head-to-head with a celebrity in assessing the upcoming round of matches.

When it came to Villa’s match with Arsenal, he wrote: “I am really worried about Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard is under pressure. This is his team this season, they had a good start last term but fell away and their signings haven’t paid off so far. Philippe Coutinho hasn’t clicked and that is a major factor.

“Arsenal, meanwhile, are absolutely flying. It was good how they came from behind to beat Fulham. They were maybe not at their absolute best but it was a good fightback by them and I love what Gabriel Jesus brings to them.

“Martin Odegaard has also stepped up. He is leading by example and bringing goals and performances.”

In the end, Sutton predicted a 3-0 win for Arsenal.

This week, the celebrity he was facing in the predictions contest was Tom Dowse, a guitarist with ‘post-punk band’ Dry Cleaning and an Arsenal fan.

Dowse also predicted a comfortable win for his side, writing: “ I can’t see anything other than a win for Arsenal but we are shipping goals so I don’t see us getting a clean sheet.

“We’ve dropped silly points at home in the past couple of seasons but the way we are attacking now makes us quite unpredictable and that is going to be too much for most teams, including Villa. 3-1”