Arsene Wenger warns of Alexis Sanchez burnout, no rest for Stoke

LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said
in-form forward Alexis Sanchez is "in the red zone
physically" and in danger of picking up an injury, but is not
likely to rest the Chilean for Saturday's game at Stoke.
Sanchez has scored nine Premier League goals in his first 13
games following a 35 million-pound move from Barcelona in
the summer, and Wenger said this week that he had made the
fastest start to a career in England by a foreign player.
With Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere among the big-name
Arsenal players out injured, Wenger can hardly afford to lose
Sanchez heading into the hectic Christmas period, but warned:
"He is in the red zone.
"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 stressed that he did not feel Arsenal were reliant on
Sanchez's goals and said their return to form -- with three
wins from the 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," he said.
"Three games is a good basis, but not enough to say there is
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."

ESPN