Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli expects Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez to play major role in World Cup qualifiers

Five key issues for Arsenal during the international break

• 1/5 Who is to blame for yet another injury crisis?

  Even Wenger appears to be struggling to explain an injury crisis that led to ten players being ruled out of the Bayern Munich hammering last week. However he certainly has an idea about it, blaming Chris Coleman for Aaron Ramsey’s injury blow that will have kept him out for a month.
  Wenger will likely watch several of his charges, none more so than Alexis Sanchez, travel abroad with bated breath. At least he can take solace from the fact that so many of his players, including Mesut Ozil, will be recuperating at Colney rather than playing a part in money-spinning friendlies.
  Perhaps he could use some of this time to consider an approach to fitness labelled out of date by Raymond Verheijen? Certainly with so many of the same old players picking up muscular injuries he must look closer to home for a solution ahead of a gruelling winter fixture list.

• 2/5 How should Per Mertesacker be managed for the rest of the season?

  It appears that Arsenal’s on-field captain could be yet another player to find the armband a heavy burden to bear. Much as Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta suffered previously, so Mertesacker has looked off the pace in recent weeks.
  Though he was at his commanding best in the Emirates victory over Bayern that has been something of a rarity in a disappointing season for Mertesacker. The 31-year-old’s form reached something of a nadir in last week’s matches against the German champions and Spurs, with the defender admitting he was “knackered” after the match.
  With nearly 600 games played over 12 years perhaps Mertesacker no longer has the ability to play every game for a side competing on multiple fronts.
  Considering Gabriel has looked deserving of a regular role on almost every occasion he has pulled on an Arsenal shirt this season the time may well have come for Wenger to scale back his demands on Mertesacker.

• 3/5 Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott – who leads the line?

  Wenger started the campaign without a clear sense who is first-choice striker would be, but he might have hoped to have found one by now. For all the differences between the pacey Walcott and the powerful Giroud both have failed to fully convince for much the same reason – their inconsistency.
  Should the mood take them both are capable of spectacular finishes at will. On other occasions, as in the North London Derby, both Giroud and Walcott can miss the simplest chances on an alarmingly regular basis.
  With next to no chance of a world-class striker being available in January it will be down to these two until the end of the season. Walcott is perhaps the favourite starter when he returns from injury later in the month, particularly due to Giroud’s goalscoring returns of the bench last month.
  But whichever he chooses Wenger would be unwise to invest too heavily in either as his long-term striker.

• 4/5 When does Alexis Sanchez take a break?

  As Wenger has admitted on several occasions, Sanchez will not rule himself out of a match if he is given the choice. Perhaps it would be wise for the manager to remove that option for his star forward.
  Once more the Chile forward will return from international duty after two draining World Cup qualifiers, at home to Colombia and away to Uruguay. Wenger cannot expect Jorge Sampaoli to rest Sanchez so he will have to.
  In theory games away to West Brom and Norwich and at home to Sunderland offer an ideal chance to do just that. Sanchez could sit on the bench; ready to change the course of the contest should Arsenal struggle.
  But the manager knows he will face a savaging should he fail to beat any of those sides with his most potent forward on the bench.

• 5/5 Is it time for midfield reinforcements in January?

  There is no more irreplaceable player in the Arsenal side than Francis Coquelin. Not least because his backups look so unconvincing.
  Mikel Arteta has scarcely been fit for over a year whilst Mathieu Flamini combines reliable, battling performances with bizarre performances such as when he spent his 10-minute cameo against Everton playing as an auxiliary centre-forward rather than shoring up a 2-1 lead.
  The likes of Lars Bender and William Carvalho may not be available in January, but Wenger can ill-afford for a title charge to be derailed by a major injury to Coquelin. Might a short-term loan deal like that pursued with Kim Kallstrom in 2014, though with the caveat that this time the player is actually fit, help add depth to the midfield?