Arsene Wenger has warned Swansea City that Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez will return to haunt his former boss Francesco Guidolin tonight.
The Swans are desperate to avoid a third successive Premier League defeat in their bid to climb away from the bottom three, but the Gunners are also in dire need of points to maintain their title challenge.
A 3-2 defeat by Manchester United left Arsenal five points adrift of leaders Leicester City with 11 matches remaining.
Sanchez has not scored in the League since October but Wenger is confident he will return to form.
“He is just coming back from injury,” Wenger said. “I believe that he is fighting to come back to his best.
“His second half was quite positive and encouraging at Manchester United. You don’t want him to lose confidence and he wants to fight.”
The Chilean striker played under Guidolin when the Italian was in charge at Udinese five years ago and the Swans head coach insists he is looking forward to the reunion.
“When I was at Udinese, we played against Arsenal in the play-offs in the Champions League,” said Guidolin.
“We lost at the Emirates Stadium 1-0 and at Udinese we were 1-0 up at half-time, then they scored two goals. I remember two balanced, difficult matches for both teams. Not only for us, but for Arsenal too.
“Now I hope to see my team, Swansea, play well against Arsenal. It’s a difficult match because Arsenal are a good team with very important players like Alexis Sanchez. I am very happy for him. I hope to have the possibility to have his shirt after the game, but I hope also to have the points to help us in the table.”
“Our table is not good. This is a problem,” added Guidolin.
“We are a little bit worried because this season is not easy, but my opinion is that we have the possibility to play well in the last part of the season. I am confident. Since I came here, I have seen my team play well in many games and so I think we can finish the season very well.
“We have players with experience, leadership and charisma. Like Ashley Williams, Leon Britton, Jack Cork for example. I am sure we have not only good players, but good guys in our dressing room.
“We have to survive this season. That’s our target. We have to think by match by match. We know we have a battle for three months but I am positive.”
