By half time of the clash against Manchester United, Alexis Sanchez had already scored twice and given the United right-back, Matteo Darmian, such an uncomfortable afternoon that the Italian defender would not step back out to play in the second half.

Finding form

The match and performance against United was confirmation that Arsenal’s awesome Alexis was back in form after his three goal haul against Leicester in Arsenal’s 5-2 victory and his goal and assist in Arsenal’s 3-2 loss against Olympiakos in the Champions League group stages.

There were worries that Sanchez would not find the form that made him so deadly last season but those worries were dispelled once his glut of six goals in three games came; it looks like the flood gates are truly open.

But the intensity with which Sanchez played against Manchester United came with a cost – a slight twinge in his groin was sufficient enough for the winger to end his afternoon; Wenger took the wise decision to sub his Chilean star for Kieran Gibbs as the French manager looked to maintain the clean sheet.

National duty

Such is the commitment and appetite for football that Sanchez, maybe foolishly, has not used his injury as an excuse to not travel and meet up with the Chilean national team. The reigning Copa America winners have clashes against Brazil and Peru up-coming, with the match against the Selecao this Friday before the Peruvians can expect the Chileans next week.

Wenger has asked Chile’s medical staff to keep in contact with him with regards to his key player’s fitness. The last thing Wenger wants is for his star winger to come back with an additional injury to his relatively slight groin discomfort. Wenger's medical team were confident that the injury Sanchez had picked up against Manchester United was not serious.

Insatiable appetite

Ideally, Sanchez would have used his injury to miss out on international duty and take somewhat of a break following his hectic summer helping Chile win their maiden Copa America. After being rested for Arsenal’s first game of the season against West Ham, a 2-0 loss, Wenger has started Sanchez in the majority of matches since. But no-one can keep Sanchez from playing football: it would have to take a really serious injury to prevent this Chilean winger from representing his national side.

It looks like, fortunately for Arsenal fans, this Sanchez injury is not of the serious nature.