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'We can’t give Chelsea any respite'

Theo Walcott says Arsenal can't give Chelsea "any respite" if they are to secure a positive result on Saturday.

The Gunners come into the weekend’s early kick-off having already beaten Jose Mourinho’s side in this season’s Community Shield.

That match was the first of four domestic defeats suffered by Chelsea so far in 2015/16, and Walcott says the squad are confident of securing a first victory at Stamford Bridge since 2011.

"Everyone will be fighting for it - we want to have a different result to in previous years there"

“I think we need to play with no fear,” Walcott told Arsenal.com. “You can see how Chelsea have started the season, no one has given them any respite on the ball at all, and I think we need to be exactly the same like that.

“We’re playing with confidence, I know we had that result the other day, but in the Premier League we’ve been getting positive results.

“Chelsea need to react in a good way, so they are going to need to come for us and that could play into our hands maybe.

“Everyone will be fighting for it - we want to have a different result to in previous years there.

“People say [the win in August] was only the Community Shield, but the Community Shield is a competitive match. It’s always nice to win these big games.

Hector Bellern and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

“You remember what you did right and the positives from the game come out from it. We just need to do the basics again - we need to do the right things with everyone on it and [doing] their job defensively as well.

“We know that we can keep clean sheets. That’s important in the Premier League now and you’ve seen it with our record.

“It will be a tight game, I’m sure, but we need to make sure we take our chances. That’s key.”

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