Walcott wants revenge against Southampton

Theo Walcott is desperate to set the record straight when Arsenal face Southampton later on Tuesday, following their 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

Goals from Cuco Martina, Jose Fonte and two from Shane Long saw Arsenal humbled at St Mary’s on December 26 and Walcott is hopeful they have learned from their mistakes of that day.

“Maybe we had too much Christmas dinner the day before that game, I don’t know. It completely shocked our system and gave us a wake-up call,” Walcott told the London Evening Standard.

“Maybe we went there thinking it was going to be completely easy. They’d had a bit of a bad run going into that game but when you face Arsenal, it lifts teams.

“We need to put that right. Every player knows it wasn’t a great night for us. The fans had travelled a long way and we need to think about that side of it too. If we want to be winning the title, we can’t have results like that. We need to definitely make it right and I’m sure we will.”

Arsenal sit third in the Premier League table heading into Tuesday’s encounter, three points behind leaders Leicester City.

The Gunners have not won in their last three matches in the league, including a home defeat to Chelsea last time out, but Walcott added: “Every game is massive now. We need to get back on that winning trail, starting with Southampton. It is all about work-rate – if we work harder than Southampton, we will get the result we want.”