Former Arsenal star Theo Walcott has admitted he is hopeful of helping the Gunners' Premier League title charge as he starts for Southampton against Manchester City. Walcott enjoyed a fruitful 12 years in north London and at 34 can help his old club as their title rivals take on his current team Southampton in the league on Saturday evening.
The major news before the clash was surrounding Erling Haaland who had missed the last month with a groin injury. However, after being pictured in training during the week, Pep Guardiola named his goal scoring machine in the starting XI in place of Julian Alvarez.
On the opposite side of the pitch in attack, Walcott will play up front for Southampton and he could play a decisive role in the title race. Anything but a City win could see Arsenal open their eight-point gap further at the top, but they must overcome Liverpool at Anfield, something they haven't done in the league for 11 years.
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Walcott has already placed a smile on the faces of Arsenal supporters after his goal inspired a Saints comeback against Tottenham last month. Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the game, the Englishman admitted his first aim is getting a result for Southampton, but that he would also be happy taking points away from the reigning champions given his Arsenal allegiances.
"Do you know what? My son in particular said this [a Southampton result would benefit Arsenal], so hopefully we can do something," he said.
"We could do a lot of people a lot of good today, Arsenal fans particularly and myself as well included in that. Most important for me is to get Southampton a result, that’s gonna obviously benefit Arsenal going forward."
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