Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had good news on the fitness front at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.
The Frenchman revealed, as reported by the club’s official website, that everyone who was involved on Wednesday night against Liverpool returned unscathed and that Alexis Sanchez is in the frame to be included in some capacity.
Wenger will have a big decision to make regarding the Chilean who has been sidelined since November with a hamstring injury which he suffered at Norwich.
Last season’s top scorer is a vital part to Arsenal’s title hopes and will not want to be rushed back, something Wenger implied when talking about “gambling” on the 26-year-old.
From Liverpool, we have no injuries, so that’s good news.
Alexis I would say has a 60:40 chance to be available and be back in the squad. He has two decisive days – Friday and Saturday. He is fit, he has worked very hard and the decision we have to take is whether to take a gamble or not on his injury.
Alexis was penciled in for a return to action two weeks ago, but a set-back in training prolonged his absence. That will no doubt be in Wenger’s mind when he comes to selecting his team for Sunday.
There was also an update on Tomas Rosicky who returned to first-team training this week but is unlikely to be considered for the game at Stoke City.
Tomas needs first to have a game somewhere. We hope for maybe an under-21 game or at least a bit more training with the first team.
