Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson has claimed that Liverpool 'will rip the Gunners to shreds' when they meet in the Premier League at the start of next month.

Arsenal lost their first two Premier League matches of the 2018-19 campaign but have won their last 10 games in all competitions, including seven in the league to move to within two points of the summit.

Merson remains unconvinced about his former club, however, claiming that they have been "very, very fortunate" not to face any of the so-called big teams over the last couple of months.

"If they finish in the top four they've pulled up trees. They've done well to win 10 games on the trot, don't get me wrong," Merson told talkSPORT.

"But when they come up against Tottenham [Hotspur] and Liverpool, and especially Liverpool at the Emirates, I would be shocked if Liverpool didn't win by three clear goals. They will rip Arsenal to shreds.

"I'm scratching my head, because Arsenal have won 10 games in a row and in half of those games they could have been behind by so many in the first half. But when they get going in the second half, when everything is rolling, then they're the Harlem Globetrotters.

"I mean look at Mesut Ozil, he was phenomenal [against Leicester]. If he played like that every week, he'd be the best player in the world. So no, I can't buy into it. I think they've been very, very fortunate. They haven't played anybody yet, and you can't play like this against teams like Liverpool."

Arsenal will look to record their 11th straight win in all competitions when they face Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday night.