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Per - An almost perfect performance

Per Mertesacker says Arsenal's "almost perfect" performance against Galatasaray is ideal preparation for Sunday's trip to Chelsea.

The Gunners outclassed their Turkish opponents in the Champions League, racing into a four-goal lead thanks to Danny Welbeck's hat-trick and Alexis Sanchez's strike, before a red card for Wojciech Szczesny saw Galatasaray cut the deficit and finish the game strongly.

Arsenal overcame that late scare to get back on track in Group D and Mertesacker wants to take Wednesday's form into this weekend's London derby.

"We know we can do better than the two consecutive seasons [at Chelsea] before and I think we'll try new things on Sunday to get a better result than last year"

"Yes, it was almost [perfect]," he told Arsenal Player.

"I think in the second half we tried to relax too much, especially when we won the ball, and then we lost it immediately. That caused some trouble at the end as you could see [with] the penalty, plus we conceded one goal and a red card.

"I think that kept us alive, on our toes, and we tried to finish that off. At the end we did well and I'm pleased with the performance, especially in the first half.

"Obviously [it's a] good lift [before the Chelsea game]. We've got good confidence at the moment and will try implement that into the game on Sunday. We know we can do better than the two consecutive seasons [there] before and I think we'll try new things on Sunday to get a better result than last year."

Danny Welbeck's hat-trick hogged the headlines after Wednesday's game and Mertesacker is mightily impressed with his new team-mate.

"He's the main threat at the moment, especially on the counter-attack," he said.

"We have players who can put him in the right situations and that is what we need to find ourselves. It took a bit of time but I think now we are on [the] spot and we see what it takes to be a team and to be fully integrated."

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