Arsenal injury news: Alexis Sanchez in race to face Stoke as Wenger rules out return at Anfield

Wait goes on: Sanchez will not return for at least nine days, missing Sunderland and Liverpool matches

James Olley8 January 2016

Alexis Sanchez will miss Wednesday’s Premier League game at Liverpool but could return for next Sunday’s trip to Stoke.

Earlier this week, Wenger revealed the Chile international will miss Saturday's FA Cup visit of Sunderland as a 'precaution', but has since confirmed on Friday the forward will also miss the midweek trip to Anfield.

The Arsenal boss advised that Sanchez could return for the leaders' visit to the Britannia Stadium in nine days time, but again lacked certainty when asked about the player's return.

Meanwhile, Wenger insisted he would not make wholesale changes for Saturday's FA Cup clash against Sunderland at Emirates Stadium, but hinted Mesut Ozil could be among those rested given no Arsenal player has started more games (26) than the German this season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Wenger says Sanchez will not be ready to face Liverpool but could be available for Stoke next weekend. — James Olley (@JamesOlley) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/JamesOlley/status/685389479641788416" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3151526-https://twitter.com/JamesOlley/status/685389479641788416" data-vars-event-id="c23">January 8, 2016</a>

Asked if the cup provided a good chance to give players a week off, the Frenchman said: "Not really – Ozil I don't know but [Theo] Walcott is not overloaded with games."