Key Man A Doubt To Face Southampton As Wenger Hints At Changes

Alexis Sanchez is a doubt to start against Southampton on Saturday with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hinting he may rest some of his key men ahead of the Paris Saint-Germain game.

Sanchez only returned to north London following his long-haul trip to South America during the international break on Thursday night so will only have one training session ahead of the Southampton game this weekend.

With less than 48 hours to recover, Wenger will have to assess the fitness of the Chilean international today but the boss has hinted that he may not risk the attacker as we have a big game at PSG next week to think about.

We travel to Paris to take on the French champions at the Parc des Prince in our Champions League group stage opener next Tuesday night and Wenger suggests he may have to rest a few players against Southampton following the international break.

The boss told Arsenal.com:

on team news…
I haven’t seen Alexis and David Ospina because they arrived late last night. Everyone looks alright.

on if it will be a risk to play Alexis after travel…
That’s a decision I have to make because we play on Tuesday night so I will see. I have to make that decision in the next 24 hours.

on how the international break disrupts organisation…
I could focus on the players that stayed here for the two weeks, and see how everybody comes back, maybe rest a few because we play again on Tuesday. The fact that I have a very complete squad [makes] these decisions easier.

I’m sure Alexis will be desperate to play tomorrow afternoon but perhaps it would be best to leave him on the bench and only bring him on if needed as he won’t be 100% fit following his late arrival from South America.

However, I’m not sure Wenger should be resting too many other key players against Southampton as this is just as important a game as the PSG match – if not more important.

See full Arsenal team news ahead of Southampton here

We’ve picked up just four points from our first three games and are already five behind the league leaders so beating the Saints is vital this weekend or we’ll find ourselves even further behind the early pace-setters.