Alexis Sanchez picked up a hamstring injury following his cameo role in the 3-2 victory over Brighton and was eventually unavailable for selection for the Premier League fixture against Aston Villa.

Though his absence was hardly felt at Emirates Stadium last week, Arsenal supporters wanted their top scorer to spearhead the attack at White Hart Lane. However, Arsene Wenger told in a press conference that Arsenal could be forced to play without the Chilean given his injury setback.

“The latest is that Alexis is not ready. He is not far away, the Leicester game is a possibility. He is of course very difficult to keep quiet! He is training but it is light training.”

The former Barcelona marksman leads the goal tally with seventeen goals in all competitions for the Gunners. Though his absence may catalyse Arsenal’s performance, his current layoff can aid the Gunners in progressing further in Champions League.

The French manager also shed light on Danny Welbeck’s thigh injury as he stated that the English international could be back in contention for the White Hart Lane trip. He last featured for Arsenal in their 1-2 thumping at Upton Park.

“Danny Welbeck is back in the group. Apart from that we have the same squad available as last week.”

He failed to provide any proper return date for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but confirmed that he could be back shortly, having returned to training recently. He also added that long-term absentee Serge Gnabry would start along Krystian Bielik at Newcastle United for the youth team.

“Alex is still out, but he is starting to practice again, not full training. Serge will play on Monday night at Newcastle, with Bielik. Bielik is coming along very well.”

Despite the injury setbacks, Arsene Wenger still has wealth of attacking options as Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky and Mesut Ozil are in a terrific run of form as of late.