• Premier League

Alexis Sanchez in danger of injury, says Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted in-form Alexis Sanchez is "in the red zone physically" and in danger of picking up an injury, but he is not likely to rest him for Saturday's Premier League game at Stoke.

Sanchez has scored nine Premier League goals in his first season at Arsenal following a £35 million move from Barcelona last summer, with Wenger claiming he has made the fastest start to a career in England by a foreign player.

• Alexis Sanchez to be the Premier League's top scorer, at 10/1 with bet365*
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• *All odds correct at time of publishing.

With Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere among the big-name Arsenal players on the long-term injury list, Wenger can hardly afford to lose Sanchez heading into the hectic Christmas fixture list, but he has conceded the forward is edging towards what he views as a dangerous physical limit.

"He is in the red zone," Wenger said to describe the current energy levels of Sanchez. "You can see that when he plays, but he can dig deep. I think he played his 27th game since the start of the season on Wednesday, if you consider the international games and the travelling on top of that.

"Unfortunately, you never know how far you can push. We are not scientific enough to predict that completely, but he has great recovery potential. He recovers very quickly and he is always very sharp and ready to play.

"He has a huge desire, no complex and a fighting attitude. Even when he misses something, it doesn't affect him. I believe as well he is very mobile, very determined and he has the sense to be in the right place in the box."

Wenger went on to state Arsenal are not reliant on Sanchez's goals, saying his side's return to form in their last three matches has been a collective effort.

"On the goal scoring front you can say he is the dominant figure, but it doesn't reflect the truth to say Sanchez is the only player," continued Wenger, as he reflected on a hat-trick of wins in his side's last three matches.

"Three games is a good basis, but not enough to say momentum there. We have to go to create five, six or seven games to feel completely comfortable on that front but it is a good period of the season to do it."

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