Paul Merson's Premier League predictions - Round Four

Man Utd v QPR, 3.30pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 1

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If you’re a neutral then Man United are the team to watch this season. They will let in goals because they’re nowhere near good enough at the back, but they could be as good as anybody going forward if all the players click. Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao are both out-and-out centre-forwards and like playing up front on their own, so if he plays them both you might see them running into each other. Then you’ve got Wayne Rooney, Angel di Maria and Juan Mata – can you play all three of them? Louis van Gaal is getting paid a lot of money to make those decisions, but I do wonder why they sold Danny Welbeck for £16m when they’re buying wing-backs for £30m? I think this is the ideal game for the new players to come in, though. QPR had a massive result against Sunderland and if they can come away with a respectable score they’ll be happy. They will set themselves up to be hard to beat, but I don’t think they’ve got the ammunition to score in this game.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0

Hull v West Ham, 7pm, Monday, Sky Sports 1

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I like Steve Bruce and I think he’s a good manager with some good players, but Hull haven’t been great so far. They dug in to get a result against Stoke, but they will be very disappointed with the defeat at Aston Villa and also with their exit from the Europa League. They would have loved to have got into the group stages, so that was a real kick in the teeth. West Ham looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against Crystal Palace, but the performance against Southampton was probably the worst they have had in years. I don’t know which West Ham will turn up in this game and so I will go for a draw. These are probably the two most unpredictable teams of the season so far.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1

Liverpool v Aston Villa

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This is the hardest game of the weekend to predict and it really should be the easiest. Daniel Sturridge’s injury is a big problem for Liverpool and the question is will Mario Balotelli step up? The reason they paid the money is for games like this and they need him to perform. This game will suit Villa, as we saw last season when they were 2-0 up at Anfield and should have won. They like to play on the counter-attack with their pace and they don’t have to worry about making things happen. They haven’t lost a game yet, so their confidence is high and it all depends how they cope with Liverpool’s movement. I’ve got a feeling about this game. I have to go for a home win because Liverpool should have too much class, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up being a draw.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1

Arsenal v Man City

Danny Welbeck ticks all the boxes for Arsenal and is exactly what Arsene Wenger wants – £16million for an England international who has already played for a big club is great value. He’s just scored two goals for his country in midweek and that makes things even better. I would say he needs to play as a centre-forward and I just hope the manager isn’t stubborn and plays Alexis Sanchez ahead of him because I think he can definitely make Arsenal a better team. I honestly think they will beat M