14 January 2023 , 00:00
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Former Arsenal hero Theo Walcott has branded bitter rivals Tottenham "negative" ahead of Sunday's hotly-anticipated North London Derby.
Ex-England international Walcott is also predicting that Arsenal will win the Premier League title this season, in a damning indictment of where the two rivals sit at present. While the Gunners are riding high at the top of the table and boast a five-point lead over Manchester City, Spurs are in fifth and once again look set for another scrap to finish inside the Champions League places.
They'll go head-to-head on Sunday evening in a mouthwatering clash, but Walcott is hoping that there won't be much of a contest. "I'm very confident to be honest," the 33-year-old forward, now of Southampton, told talkSPORT. "I feel like Tottenham play quite a negative style."
However, Walcott has warned Mikel Arteta and Co. that Antonio Conte's side could have a sting in their tails. "To some extent, Arsenal will have a lot of the ball, which could play a bit into Tottenham's hands, they tend to like that," he added. "But it's the derby, this is one of the games where anyone can win this, they really can."
Asked whether Arsenal will maintain top spot and win the league come May, Walcott, once again confident, declared: "Yes, I do. I really do, actually. Look at Eddie Nketiah right now, he's having his opportunity and he's taken it with both hands. There's something about Arsenal right now, just the whole atmosphere there. I'm positive about it, I really am."
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Whether or not the Gunners can hold on and win a first Premier League title since 2003, one thing is for sure: manager Arteta won't be getting carried away. "We don't think about sending messages, we think about performances and playing well, and earning the right to win the game, and that's what we have to do," the Spaniard affirmed on Friday, remaining typically level-headed.
Antonio Conte is hoping to mastermind an upset against Arsenal (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)Have your say! Do you agree with Walcott's title prediction? Join the debate in the comments section.
"The best way to do it is to focus on that - the rest we cannot control. I don’t know the perception of us and the way the rest analyse us, so we just have to focus on what we can do. We just face the challenge and the opportunity ahead of us, and we know where we are.
"At Arsenal, you don't expect anything that is not winning football matches every three days. That's the demand we have as a club and everybody individually and every member of staff knows that. The challenge is weekly or daily to be better and to win the game. It doesn't matter who you play against."