Wenger considering handing Sanchez Arsenal rest

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is considering handing a rest to Alexis Sanchez in order to avoid the Chilean suffering burnout, according to the Daily Mirror.

After playing 67 games for club and country – including the World Cup – last season, Sanchez went without rest during the summer due to Chile’s victorious Copa America run, in which the 26-year-old featured in every game.

Wenger had planned to rest Sanchez for Arsenal at the start of the season but he was substituted on in the opening-day defeat to West Ham, while the forward has played 26 games so far this campaign to take his tally since joining the Gunners to 93 games.

After admitting that Sanchez is “knackered” last month, the Mirror’s John Cross and Adrian Kajumba are reporting that Wenger is likely to rest his star player after the international break in order to prevent burnout.

Arsenal’s first game after the break comes against West Brom on November 21, while clashes with Dinamo Zagreb (home), Norwich (away), Sunderland (h), Olympiacos (a) and Aston Villa follow in a kind-looking fixture list heading into mid-December. If Wenger wants to rest Sanchez, there may not come a better opportunity.