Arsenal vs Manchester City: Arsene Wenger to assess Alexis Sanchez fitness after Chile commitments
Alexis Sanchez will be assessed by Arsenal’s medical team ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City after playing the entirety of both matches on international duty with Chile.
The 28-year-old joined up with the squad despite Gunners boss Arsene Wenger’s concerns that his ankle was in a “terrible state” following the club’s 3-1 defeat at West Brom on 18 March.
Sanchez was substituted at The Hawthorns due to injury but he followed up an appearance in Thursday’s 1-0 defeat to Argentina with another 90-minute display in last night’s 3-1 win over Venezuela.
The forward will begin the 7,200-mile journey back to London today and is not expected to resume training at the club’s London Colney training base until Friday.
Arsenal’s game with City has been pushed back 24 hours for television coverage giving Sanchez an extra day to recover, but Wenger is likely to be frustrated his key player has endured such physical demands ahead of a crucial part of the season.
Sanchez, at least, proved himself to be in good form. Although unable to prevent Lionel Messi scoring the winning goal five days earlier, Sanchez netted against Venezuela to equal Chile’s all-time record goalscorer, Marcelo Salas.
Sanchez curled home a fine free-kick with just five minutes played to take his tally to 37 goals from 108 games but he fluffed an excellent opportunity to break the record by missing a penalty.
Elsewhere in South America, David Ospina played in Colombia’s 2-0 win over Ecuador without any apparent issue and his availability for Arsenal will be vital with Petr Cech ruled out for a few weeks with a calf injury.
Ospina is set to deputise in goal, while Mesut Ozil is also closing in on a return to first-team action having played for Germany earlier in the week after missing Arsenal’s last five matches with illness and then a minor hamstring complaint.
Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud were involved in France’s 2-0 defeat against Spain, for whom Nacho Monreal was an unused substitute.
In Pictures | Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez
In Pictures | Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez
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