Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson believes that Chelsea and Manchester City will play out a 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

With Manchester United in action against Crystal Palace at 3pm, Jose Mourinho's side have the chance to move three points clear of Man City at the summit, and put a six-point gap between themselves and third-place Chelsea ahead of the late kickoff.

While Man City have been flying in the opening weeks of the 2017-18 Premier League campaign, Chelsea have recovered from an opening-day blip at home to Burnley to rise up the table.

Both teams will enter the match off the back of Champions League wins, meanwhile, but Merson has admitted that he found it difficult to separate the two teams when submitting his pre-match preview.

Merson told Sky Sports:

"I cannot separate these two sides so I'm going for a 1-1 draw. It should be a great game. Chelsea's win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday was one of the best performances I've seen away from home in Europe for a long time.

"This is another big game for Chelsea though. We expect United to win at home to Palace and that would mean Chelsea would be six points behind them before kick-off at Stamford Bridge.

"I know it's still early in the season but that is still a lot of points. Because of that I think both sides being happy with a draw.

Chelsea won both of their Premier League meetings with Man City last season - recording a 3-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium in December 2016, before a 2-1 success over the Citizens at Stamford Bridge in April.