Theo Walcott - Arsenal need to push on and get home form going

Theo Walcott celebrates his first goal of the season (Getty Images)

Theo Walcott got his first goal of the season for Arsenal when he opened the scoring for the Gunners at Marseille and eventually won 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome.

He was delighted to break his duck but was always confident of scoring eventually. Winning ten away games on the trot was a far less likely achievement but that’s exactly what Arsenal completed when they beat Marseille in their UEFA Champions League group stage opener.

The win was also Arsenal’s sixth in a row since their defeat at home to Aston Villa in their Premier League opener.

The injury-depleted squad looks thin but the squad’s self-belief is much sturdier:

“We just need to push on and make sure we get that home form going now – the away form is absolutely fantastic,” Walcott told The Express. “It’s 10 successive wins away. It’s a club record.

“To be part of a team that has done that, in the amount of years that Arsenal have existed, is a great honour and a great achievement. It just shows how good and how talented these players are.”

The away record started with 2-0 away win at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich, which saw them miss out on progression to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals because of the away goals rule. It was an important result nonetheless, as Walcott notes that the result gave them a massive confidence boost.

“There is so much belief in this team and it’s showing,” said Walcott. “Going to Bayern, one of the toughest places in Europe and win, you’ve got to think you are a very good team yourself. At times maybe we didn’t believe in ourselves. Towards the end of the season we knew we were where we wanted to be, in the Champions League.

“That’s why everyone was working hard for each other and we continue to do that on a high level. You can see a lot of players who are having fantastic starts to the season, like Aaron Ramsey, who is incredible at the moment.

“Mathieu Flamini coming in, he’s a leader, he’s bossing people around and that’s what we needed. It just shows everyone believes in each other and the trust is there.

“We’ve got to stay fit, which is crucial as well – we don’t want to lose any more players. We’ll push on and we can definitely challenge this year.”

Theo Walcott finished as Arsenal’s top scorer last year as he scored 21 goals and he is confident of being able to replicate that form this year after opening his account with a sweetly struck volley against Marseille.

“I kicked off pretty late last season and managed to finish top goalscorer, so it’s a good sign,” he said. “It’s nice to get off the mark, the first goal is always important. It felt like a decade in the air, I thought: ‘Is this ball going to come down?’ I managed to keep my eye on it and thankfully it went in.”