Arsenal sweat on Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain injuries ahead of FA Cup final

Sanchez limped out of Arsenal's 3-1 victory over Everton after suffering a thigh injury

Arsenal go into Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea sweating on the fitness of star Alexis Sanchez, though Arsene Wenger is hoping to have the Chilean available despite suffering a thigh injury last week.

Sanchez limped off the field during Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Everton that ended their Premier League campaign on Sunday, with Wenger admitting afterwards that he was unsure if Sanchez would recover in time for the Wembley final this Saturday.

Sanchez is one of a number of injury concerns that Wenger is having to manage, with a defensive crisis striking his side in what it the most important week of their season. Beat Chelsea and Arsenal can consider their season something of a success, despite missing out on the top four and next season’s Champions League.

The prospect of beating the newly-crowned Premier League champions appears increasingly unlikely, given Arsenal will be without regular captain Laurent Koscielny after he was sent-off against Everton, earning himself a three-match ban in the process. Once the Football Association confirmed that the club’s appeal against his sending-off had failed, Wenger was left to try and piece together his defence which could yet see the Frenchman revert to a back four, despite the successful experiment with a back-three.

As well as Koscielny being unavailable, Wenger is without Gabriel Paulista after the centre-back damaged his medial knee ligament during the same match, which will keep him out of action until August at the earliest.

In midfield, Wenger is unsure if Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will recover from his latest setback in time to feature, with the England international struggling with a hamstring injury. Wenger is optimistic that he will be able to play a part in the match given it will free up the options that he has with a severely limited squad.

Arsenal squad: Cech, Ospina, Martinez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Bellerin, Holding, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Maitland-Niles, Coquelin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott, Iwobi, Sanchez, Perez, Welbeck, Giroud.