The player did not feature in United’s previous two matches but will return on Friday night
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he will hand Sanchez the chance to impress at the Emirates. Alexis Sanchez will play against Arsenal on Friday evening having returned from injury in time to visit his former club with Manchester United. Sanchez’s time at Old Trafford has been largely unsuccessful in the 12 months. He’s started just five Premier League matches matches this season.
The Chile international has missed a large portion of the campaign through injury. And he’s only been fit to feature in three matches of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign as caretaker manager.
He played 27 minutes of a 2-0 defeat of Reading on January 2 before starting the FA Cup third round win at Reading three days later, but failed to make it off the bench last week in the narrow 2-1 home defeat of Brighton.
Sanchez returned to training in the days leading up to Saturday’s match. And now that he’s had another whole week to get match fit, Solskjaer is ready to let him feature against the Gunners. Solskjaer confirmed Sanchez will be involved. He also suggested he will be fired up should the Arsenal fans voice their criticism of the forward. Solskjaer said, ” He’ll be involved. I think he’ll love it if the crowd turn against him. As a player, pride kicks in and you think ‘I’ll show all of you’. He’s been fantastic in training. His attitude has been spot on so hopefully he’ll enjoy the game.”
Solskajer will be unable to call upon Marouane Fellaini, the midfielder, and defenders Chris Smalling and Macos Rojo. The trio all confirmed to remain stuck on the sidelines.
Author’s Take:
It will be interesting to see Sanchez’s performance against his former club. Given his form and his team’s form, surely the game will be interesting to see. Given the stature of the game, his presence will certainly will be a threat for Arsenal. Will the crowd at Emirates motivates Sanchez to play or shakes his confidence will remain to be seen.
