Arsenal that: Sanchez suffers setback in recovery

Arsene Wenger has ruled Alexis Sanchez out until mid-January after the Arsenal forward suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Sanchez has been sidelined since late November and, having been pencilled in for his comeback in Monday night’s 2-1 Barclays Premier League victory over Manchester City, he will now be absent for the entire Christmas schedule.

The trip to Liverpool on January 13 is the likely date for his return, forcing him to miss fixtures against Southampton, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Sunderland.

“Sanchez will be back around January 10. We can’t count on him around the Christmas period. He’s had a very slight setback,” manager Arsene Wenger said.

“It was planned for him to be on the bench for City. He’s so keen, but he got a little pain in training two days ago and we haven’t taken a gamble.”