Walcott has scoring record in sight

Theo Walcott has one last chance to write his name into the UEFA Champions League record books with the trip to PFC CSKA Moskva on Tuesday night.

Sparkling form
At kick-off of the Matchday 3 fixture in the Russian capital, Walcott will be 17 years and 184 days old, eleven days younger than Peter Oforiquaye was when he became the competition's youngest goalscorer in Olympiacos CFP's 5-1 defeat by Rosenborg BK on 1 October 1997. Although Walcott has yet to score a senior goal for Arsenal, he is in sparkling form.

High praise
On Saturday, he made his first Premiership start as Arsenal won 3-0 at home against Watford FC. His performance attracted high praise from manager Arsène Wenger, who brought him to the club last January from Southampton FC in a deal that could rise to €17.5m. Wenger said: "He can be decisive and make a difference. Once he's away, you are never going to catch him back."

England glory
Walcott, who was part of England's squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad but did not make a single appearance, underlined his growing potential a week ago as his two late goals helped the Under-21s to win 2-0 in Germany for a 3-0 aggregate success. It earned them a place at next summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals in the Netherlands.

Fabregas mark
Even if he fails to find the net against CSKA, Walcott could at least move second on the youngest scorers' list if he manages to find the net on Matchday 4 when CSKA make the return trip to the Arsenal stadium. Should he do so, he would beat team-mate Cesc Fabregas's mark set aged 17 years and 218 days when he scored in a 5-1 defeat of Rosenborg on 7 December 2004.