Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he does not expect winger Theo Walcott to start against Southampton during the weekend.
This will be an extremely important match for the gunners given that Southampton appear to be in the mix for the top four race. Arsenal could only manage a narrow victory when the two teams met each other earlier in the season at the Emirates stadium. This will be at completely different story since this match is at the St Mary stadium where Southampton have had some good results against top teams. Most recently, they were involved in a 1-1 draw with table leaders Chelsea.
Arsenal have suffered with plenty of injuries this season, but they have been welcoming a number of their important players like Walcott back to first-team action. Walcott is yet to start a Premier League match this season and many have been hoping that this would come against Southampton.
Wenger says that the 26-year-old is still not ready to start matches since he does not have the required fitness. The England international, though, could feature against Hull City from the first whistle. Arsenal take on Hull in a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final but in the third round this time around.
“He has been out for one year. He has to go for contact and today, the game does not forgive you any lack of contact or defensive focus. We have to get that. He is certainly a bit edgy as he has been out for so long. About the first tackle? Yes, of course. You must have that in your mind and have to go through that. Did he push himself too hard? Maybe, I don’t know. He overloaded his groin in training. It can happen. It could have happened here as well. You have to accept that,” said Wenger.
