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Theo Walcott believes Arsenal will enjoy a "special" season this year and hopes to kick-start the new campaign by beating Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.
The Gunners, who retained their FA Cup title in May, go head-to-head with Jose Mourinho's Premier League champions at Wembley as both teams look to secure their first piece of silverware for the season.
Arsenal comfortably beat then-league champions Manchester City in the Community Shield last year and, despite suffering a disappointing start to the season, ended the campaign in third place before winning the FA Cup with a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Arsene Wenger has since strengthened his squad with the £11million acquisition of Petr Cech from Chelsea and, with the Gunners having a positive pre-season, Walcott thinks the north Londoners are now in a great position to see off Mourinho's men on Sunday.
"It's going to be very tight and I think both squads have improved," he told Arsenal Player.
"Chelsea will grow as well but I think the way that we ended the season, just the whole culture around the club now and everything about it, there's just something special that will happen this year.
"Some people will think it’s just another pre-season game but us players want to go out and win every game we can."
Walcott's comments after the forward put an end to questions about his future at the Emirates Stadium when he agreed a new four-year contract on Thursday.
Speaking about the 26-year-old, who is Arsenal's longest-serving current player, and Santi Cazorla putting pen to paper on a new deal, Wenger said: "We’re delighted to have extended the contracts of Santi and Theo.
"Both are top quality players who are hugely important and influential to our squad.
"As well as their huge contributions on the pitch, they both have a great deal of experience and are very popular off the pitch.
What we learnt from Arsenal's Emirates Cup triumph
"We’re very pleased with them both signing contract extensions, as it provides our squad with further stability of quality."
