Shocking injury setback – Wenger confirms Alexis Sanchez is out for another 3 weeks

Alexis Sanchez who was supposed to make an early return, has suffered a setback and won’t return until the second week of January. Speaking to Sky Sports, Arsene Wenger has revealed that the Chile International would be out for another three weeks.

“Alexis has had a setback and will not be available until Jan. 10 or so,” Wenger said. “The original plan was for him to start from the bench against City, but he had a setback in training two days ago.”

The 27 year old midfielder has been out with a hamstring injury since November. The last match he played was against Norwich which Arsenal drew 1-1. Sanchez was potentially expected back in action against City, but didn’t make it into the team line-up for the match.

Arsenal attained a 2-1 victory against City and while Wenger identified his team’s short-comings, he has commended their spirit. “It was a very intense game, with both teams giving everything,” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“We always looked dangerous. We got great goals in the first half and we became shaky at 2-1. We knew how big this game was, Theo Walcott scored a fantastic goal which surprised Joe Hart and it put us on the way. Olivier Giroud is influential in every game. We missed chances, that’s the fear you have. When you see Wilfried Bony and Jesus Navas coming on you know they can make a difference.”

“When we had not the legs any more we relied on the spirit and that got us through in the end. You could see when the legs went — [Mesut] Ozil was sick all week — but they still keep going. That’s fantastic to see.”

“Our belief is strong. We have a bit more maturity in the side now, which you could see in the game when we were under pressure and we could deal with it. Every win strengthens the belief when it’s a big game like that.”

Arsenal will face Southampton next in Boxing Day fixture of the Premier League. Sanchez will miss the upcoming away fixture as well three home games against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Sunderland. According to what Wenger said, Sanchez will however be available for Premier League fixture against Liverpool on January 14th.