Arsenal Set For Triple Injury Boost But Wenger Has Concerns Over Sanchez’s Fitness

Arsenal are set to be handed a triple injury boost but Arsene Wenger plans to give Alexis Sanchez a rest due to fears over his long-term fitness, according to the Daily Mail.

Sanchez has had very little time off over the past year as he returned to pre-season training just days before featuring in our opening day defeat to West Ham after being given limited rest time having helped Chile lift the Copa America title in the summer.

The 26-year-old has also endured several long-haul trips to South America to play for his country in recent months and is once again expected to start for Chile in their World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Uruguay over the next week.

The Daily Mail claim that this packed schedule has led to concerns from Arsene Wenger that Sanchez is heading for burn-out so the boss is set to hand the attacker a well-earned mid-season break to allow him to recharge his batteries.

I’d certainly welcome this as long as Alexis doesn’t miss any key games and with the likes of West Brom, Dinamo Zagreb, Norwich, Sunderland and Aston Villa coming up, now might be the perfect opportunity to hand him a breather before we take on Manchester City on December 21st.

However, Wenger must first get some of his players back fit again and the Daily Mail claim that we should have Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Hector Bellerin available again for the trip to the Hawthorns after the international break

Ramsey has been out for over three weeks due to a hamstring injury while Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up his own hamstring problem during out Capital One Cup loss to Sheffield Wednesday last month, but it appears the duo should be back in contention for the West Brom game and this could allow Wenger to hand Sanchez a rest.

It will be a major boost to have Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain back available again as we’ve seen our squad ripped apart by injuries in recent weeks and it will give the boss more options in attack.

It will also be a huge relief to have Bellerin back as he’s been sorely missed over the past two games since he picked up a groin injury at Swansea. Mathieu Debuchy did okay against Spurs but he’s nowhere near Bellerin’s level these days so I’ll be glad if the Spaniard lines-up against the Baggies later this month.