Theo Walcott, who has just celebrated the 10th anniversary of his Arsenal arrival, has often delivered against Chelsea.
However, he hasn’t delivered much lately. Playing on the left-hand side he has struggled to make his darting runs behind, and doesn’t run on the outside. It’s troubling, but didn’t stop him scoring a fantastic goal against Manchester City a month ago.
Now, with Alexis Sánchez unlikely to start on Sunday afternoon, Arsène Wenger will be hoping the Englishman is a threat once again.
“I believe that Theo’s movement off the ball is great, so he depends a lot on the service he gets,” said the Arsenal boss. With Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil behind him you’d hope the service is good. Özil has assisted two of Walcott’s three Premier League goals so far this season, and will probably be key again should Walcott strike on Sunday.
What Walcott can do, regardless of the service he is given, is work hard.
“He has improved his team attitude and tactical discipline a lot. After that depends a lot on if we dominate the game and the quality of the balls we get,” Wenger said.
“He is very important to me in the way he goes behind the defenders. That is a quality you do not find anymore. It gives us something that is very important in our offensive game.”
Olivier Giroud’s combination play is excellent, while Aaron Ramsey is smart with his movement too. Joel Campbell is a tidy player, Alexis is explosive. Nobody in the Arsenal squad has Walcott’s combination of pace, movement, timing and good finishing. He’s still crucial, and he can make the difference this weekend.