Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has given his side's team news ahead of the Gunners’ clash against newly promoted Norwich City on Sunday, revealing Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain could make the squad for the trip to Carrow Road.
Wenger confirmed that all the players who were available for the clash against Dinamo Zagreb are available again. However, both Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell are carrying knocks following Arsenal’s 3-0 win over the Croatian outfit in the Champions League and a decision on the duo will be made later this week.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Wenger said: “We should have everyone available [from the Dinamo Zagreb game], the players that played on Tuesday night plus maybe Oxlade-Chamberlain should be back in the squad.
“I will assess that [resting Sanchez] later. It might not be the right time to rest him.
“But I don’t know, Sanchez had a little hamstring alarm and let’s see how he recovers from that.
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“And Campbell as well had a little calf problem, so I will have to assess all that on Friday, latest Saturday.”
The Frenchman also confirmed that combative midfielder Francis Coquelin, who had to be withdrawn 14 minutes into the clash against West Bromwich Albion, does not need to go under the knife, but will be ruled out for 12 weeks.
Wenger further stressed that the injury sustained by club captain Mikel Arteta is short term and the Spaniard should soon be back in the squad.
“Arteta is short-term, but Coquelin as I told you is much longer.
“The scans are positive because he does not need any surgery, but it will be 12 weeks.”
When questioned about the availability of Theo Walcott, the 66-year-old confirmed that the English speedster is not in contention for this weekend, but started running on Tuesday.
“Not for Sunday.
“He goes through a few tests and steps, but the first one was successful.
“He started running again on Tuesday morning and had no reaction. “
