Theo Walcott aimed a cheeky dig at Micah Richards in the build-up to Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Manchester City on Sunday when the two men were asked who was the quickest in their prime. Neither man was willing to back down, and many fans will expect both teams to show a similar degree of fight.
The fixture will offer an indication as to who might win the league come the end of the season. Both sides were right at the top of the table last time out, with Arsenal looking like favourites for the title until a dip in form allowed Pep Guardiola’s squad to nip in front at the death.
Gunners supporters will certainly want to get one over on their title rivals on Sunday to help get an early advantage in the race for silverware. There is also the added pressure of keeping up with Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur, who got an important victory against Luton Town on Saturday which put them at the top of the division.
Richards and Walcott argue about who was quickest
Ahead of the biggest Premier League match this weekend, Sky Sports kicked off their coverage with Richards and Walcott both on punditry duty. Both men donned the shirts of their respective clubs for many seasons, with Walcott spending 12 years in north London while Richards was a two-time Premier League winner with City after coming through the academy.
As well as being icons for the two clubs, both men had reputations for their sheer speed. They were both up there with the quickest in the league during their primes, with Walcott in particular a nightmare for defenders because of his pace.
So, of course, there was only one place to start Sky Sports’ coverage. Presenter David Jones addressed the elephant in the room immediately and asked who was the fastest. Neither man was willing to concede that the other held an advantage, with both backing themselves in a foot race.
“I was certainly the quickest,” Richards said. “I was the quickest, the strongest… He was probably good over 10, 20 yards, but over 40, 50 yards it was certainly me.”
But Walcott was having none of it. He fired back by mocking Richards in brilliant fashion, saying: “You see the fact I turn my back on him, he saw a lot of that in his career against me.”
Richards could only giggle and smile at the light-hearted joke, with Walcott admitting that he did have issues with getting past someone of Richards’ stature. Probably for the best they didn’t have a race to settle the bet given their injury records, though…
Walcott hoping Arsenal’s dismal record against City can finally end
Later in the programme, Sky brought up Arsenal’s record against the Cityzens, which illustrated just how big a challenge they had ahead of them on Sunday afternoon. In the last six seasons, Man City have recorded 12 consecutive victories against Arsenal. Walcott was a part of the last team to actually beat City, and said ahead of the game that he was desperate for his former side to finally get back in the winning column.