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Theo - We need to beat first press

Theo Walcott says Arsenal must deal with Southampton’s pressing game in Tuesday night's game between the sides.

The Gunners suffered their heaviest defeat of the season in the reverse fixture, losing 4-0 at St Mary’s on Boxing Day.

Walcott insists the team want to “make things right” at Emirates Stadium - but must counter the Saints' energetic approach. .

"We need to put this right. We haven’t won for a couple of games in the league so we need to get back to winning"

“We need to be aware of their threat going forward,” he told Arsenal Player. “How they press from the front is very good and as soon as we get past that first press, I’m sure we can cause all sorts of problems with the attacking threat we have.

“We need to put this right. We haven’t won for a couple of games in the league so we need to get back to winning and make things right.

“It’s going to be a tough game, as every game is, but there’s a lot on this one.”

Walcott could be set for a reunion with Southampton striker Charlie Austin, who he knows well from his youth.

“When I played for AFC Newbury at the age of 11, he played for them at the time,” the forward explained. “We had a brief spell together and then he moved to Reading to play for the academy there. Newbury were quite happy they had me as well then.

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“After that, we met up at Newbury district level at a tournament in Jersey and then I got picked up from Southampton and went my separate way.

“Everyone knows the rest of the story but we scored a lot of goals together. We worked quite well together.”

 

Theo Walcott

Theo Walcott

 

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