According to their former midfielder Paul Merson, Arsenal are unlikely to be stopped in their quest to win a shocking Premier League championship.

With a convincing 4-2 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, the Gunners impressively increased their lead at the top of the standings to seven points.

On New Year's Eve, Manchester City and Newcastle United's draws provided the Gunners a chance to extend their lead atop the standings.

At the Amex Stadium, they seized the opportunity with both hands when Bukayo Saka's goal in just 66 seconds set them on their course.

Eddie Nketiah added a third goal, and inspirational skipper Martin Odegaard added two more. Gabriel Martinelli scored either side of goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson of Brighton.

After five straight victories in the Premier League, Arsenal is in fine form and hosts third-place Newcastle on Tuesday in a key match.

Merson predicts a two-horse race for the championship between Arsenal and City, and he will support the Gunners even though Pep Guardiola's champions are still the odds-on favorite.

"I think they'll beat Newcastle," Merson said to Sky Sports. "They've just won two games, scored seven goals, confidence is high.

"They've won every game at home this season in the league - that's some doing.

"Arsenal are good to watch, it's not a fluke. You've got to look at Man City, they've lost at home to Brentford and drawn at home to Everton who are on a bad run.

"They are two games City are expected to win. That's five points dropped. I don't see anyone stopping Arsenal at the moment."

Wins over West Ham and Brighton since the World Cup break have delighted Merson, as Arsenal bid to win a first league crown since their 'Invincibles' team tasted success in 2004.

He added: "When we stopped for the World Cup you thought this could only harm Arsenal. They were flying. They've come back and scored seven goals in two games.

"They've got a platform, it's in their hands. I know there's a long way to go, but there are big teams in this league who can't win it - Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, probably Man United.

"It's out of Arsenal and Man City unless the other teams go on the most extraordinary run you've ever seen in Premier League history.

"Who goes to Brighton and scores four goals? Arsenal are playing great football and at the moment, they're the best team in the country and the number one team.

"They've given themselves a little gap where they can afford to lose a few games. Man City are not going to win every game, so Arsenal are right in this, I couldn't talk highly enough about them.

"This is not a fluke, they are where they are because they are a very good football team.

"They went to Old Trafford and got beat, and I didn't think they deserved to. There are ways of losing matches and they bounced back.

"The other night, they went 1-0 down to West Ham and they came back and brushed them aside."