Arsenal Boss Offers Injury Update On Cazorla & Sanchez

Arsene Wenger has offered an update on Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla after the pair were withdrawn during Arsenal’s 6-0 victory over Ludogorets on Wednesday night.

Cazorla once again started in midfield in our Champions League group stage clash but was forced off early in the second half and the Spaniard immediately applied an ice pack to his right ankle when he returned to the bench.

The midfielder has suffered from achilles problems in recent years so Wenger revealed after the game that he decided to take Cazorla off as soon as he could after he received a kick to his ankle in the second half.

Sanchez also kept his place up front against Ludogorets last night and opened the scoring with a sublime chip before being withdrawn midway through the second half when we were 4-0 up.

Alexis isn’t often substituted so it raised concerns that he may have picked up a knock but Wenger has eased those fears after confirming that he simply wanted to give the Chilean international a rest.

The boss told Arsenal.com:

on Alexis coming off…
I just wanted to give him a breather. He looks alright physically.

on Santi Cazorla…
He got a kick and I took him off as quickly as possible. He got a kick on the back of his achilles tendon. In my view he was limping a little bit so I didn’t want to take a gamble.

Obviously it’s a relief that Sanchez is fine but let’s hope Cazorla’s achilles doesn’t flare up again as he’s been excellent for us so far this season and it would be a huge blow if he was ruled out for any length of time.