Arsenal have been without English duo Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for some weeks already and by the sound of Arsene Wenger’s press conference this morning, we might not see them for some time yet. It’s another depressing bit of Arsenal news, after the tragic loss of Tottenham lives fresh in the memory.
Ahead of tomorrow nights game against Leicester, Wenger said on Wilshere: ‘He’s back in full training this week. I don’t know exactly [how long until he returns], we have to monitor him on a daily basis and see how he develops.’
I don’t like the sound of that, personally. Wilshere has had too many injury setbacks and it looks like he might have another one here. I’ll be disappointed as I am desperate for Wilshere to come back into the team and realise his potential.
Wenger then later confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would return in ‘about two weeks’. He could not name return dates of Mikel Arteta or Mathieu Debuchy, both of whom might struggle to play again this season.
There is some good news from this mornings press conference, though. Wenger revealed that Alexis Sanchez is ‘back in the group’ and he is expected to start against Leicester on Tuesday night. The Gunners certainly missed his individual quality against Tottenham on Saturday, as we looked a little lost without the Chilean, if I’m honest.
Another positive is that Arsenal are not lacking options in this area of the field right now. The likes of Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are all regularly featuring in centre midfield, whilst Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck have returned recently, giving Arsenal more width and pace.
There we go, it’s not all doom and gloom on a Monday morning. What are your predictions for the game against Leicester? I think the odds will be pretty short for Sanchez to be on the scoresheet.