Arsène Wenger has said Alexis Sánchez will not be fit enough to return for Wednesday’s Premier League match at Liverpool, as Arsenal prepare to defend their FA Cup title against Sunderland.
Wenger’s side play Sunderland at the Emirates on Saturday, with Sam Allardyce set to make changes to his team because of the midweek round of league fixtures next week, describing the schedule as “diabolical”.
Arsenal will also make changes, with Mikel Arteta available. Sánchez, who sustained a hamstring injury against Norwich in November, is not yet ready to feature and Wenger said the earliest the Chilean will return is against Stoke on 17 January.
“Everyone is available from last week,” said the manager. “Arteta is available and will be selected because he played 45 minutes on Tuesday with the Under-21s. Alexis is a bit short to be in the squad but is not far. Liverpool will come too soon as well. Maybe for Stoke.
“We want to win every competition we participate in. The FA Cup is one of them, for us it is an important competition. Confidence is a global thing and you can’t really separate it from one competition to another. You want to feel as well that your team is ready for every single challenge and the FA Cup is one that matters to us.
“The FA Cup is a great competition. I’m not sure that Sunderland will field a weaker a team. We take care of this competition like everybody does. Everybody dreams of winning the FA Cup. There may be some priorities at some stage of the season for some clubs who think they are in trouble and have to make these kinds of decisions, so they choose. We don’t because we have a big squad and we feel we are equipped to deal with all the competitions.”
Wenger said the full-back Mathieu Debuchy will be allowed to leave on loan in the January transfer window. The French defender has made only seven appearances this season and the Aston Villa manager, Rémi Garde, has expressed an interest in the 30-year-old. Wenger said: “He has an opportunity to go but he has not been in touch with any club.”
He also revealed Mohamed Elneny’s proposed transfer from Basel has become complicated but he still expects the midfielder to join. “We are working hard on it and hopefully in the next two or three days we will get to the end of it.”
