It is a tricky situation and certainly a worrying one for Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger. The manager of the Chile national team, Jorge Sampaoli, has already given the Gunners a fright this week by admitting that he played our star striker for the full 90 minutes against Brazil in a World Cup qualifying match, despite knowing that he was not fully fit and so was at risk of aggravating the injury Alexis picked up during the Premier League win over Manchester United.
That great win has put Arsenal in a great position and looking good for a proper tilt at the title but you do not need me to tell you that keeping our Chilean dynamo fit is key to us keeping up that challenge, so all eyes will be on Chile tomorrow night and all people of an Arsenal persuasion will be hoping to see Alexis rested for their next game against Peru.
It is still a qualifying game that Sampaoli will be desperate to win but the opposition is weaker. Peru lost their first World Cup qualifier 2-0 against a weakened Colombia team last week and so perhaps the Chile boss will not feel that he has to risk Alexis.
The game is in Peru though and I would not be surprised to see the Arsenal striker start. In that case we can only hope that he comes through the game unscathed and Peru could help with that by conceding a few early goals and giving Sampaoli a reason to replace Alexis. THat’s not too much for us to ask is it?