Former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas believes that Theo Walcott's season-ending injury could cost his old club the Premier League title.

The Gunners, who sit top of the table with 20 games played, were rocked by the news on Monday that the England international has been ruled out for the next six months with knee ligament damage, meaning that he will miss the remainder of the campaign and the World Cup in Brazil.

"Arsenal are going to miss him badly. If Theo had stayed fit until the end of the season, I think he would have got Arsenal the title because his pace can stretch defenders," Nicholas told Sky Sports News.

"We've got [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain coming back, we've got [Lukas] Podolski back and also the very talented [Serge] Gnabry, who I think will be able to replace Theo in that position, but he will not be able to replace the pace or the goals.

"The longer the season goes on the deeper the teams will get and I think that's the asset that Arsenal are going to miss and the goals they will certainly miss."

Walcott has scored six goals in 18 appearances for Arsenal this season.