Alexis Sánchez will return to the Arsenal squad for Tuesday night’s Premier League game against Leicester City, having missed the north London derby defeat to Tottenham with a hamstring injury.
Sanchez, who has scored 18 goals in all competitions this season, has not featured since the FA Cup victory over Brighton last month and Arsenal had limited attacking opportunities during the derby against Spurs.
Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said: “Sánchez will be back in the group. He is our best goalscorer and one of our hardest working players in the team. It’s good to have him back.”
Wenger also confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is facing another two weeks out and refused to set a timeline for Jack Wilshere’s return.
Leicester travel to the Emirates with Nigel Pearson having endured a difficult few days. The Leicester manager was thought to have been sacked on Sunday but the club issued a statement later that evening insisting such reports were “inaccurate and without foundation”.
Pearson became involved in a touchline fracas with the Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat, with the player having accidentally collided with the coach.
Asked if Leicester, who are bottom of the Premier League, deserved to be higher in the table, Wenger said: “Yes, but all the teams at the back can say that. Hull can say that, they just drew 1-1 against Man City. The difference between the teams is very small, it’s just about how you turn up on the day.
“If you look at the table, nobody’s definitely out of the fight. So all the teams down there in the fight to survive can stay up.”
