Press Association
Arsenal's Theo Walcott could make a long-awaited return to action at Liverpool in English Premier League play on Sunday.
Manager Arsene Wenger revealed the 25-year-old forward, who has made just two appearances this season following recovery from a long-term knee injury, is set to resume full training after coming back from a groin problem sustained while on international duty with England.
While Wenger will take no chances on Walcott’s rehabilitation, the imminent availability of the forward will come as a welcome boost ahead of the Christmas schedule, which could also see both Nacho Monreal and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shake off their fitness problems.
“There is a slight chance of Monreal being available and a very slight chance for Walcott. We hope that Oxlade-Chamberlain will be fit. We will see that on Saturday,” Wenger said.
The coach said that Walcott resumed training yesterday, but that it may yet be too soon to take him to Liverpool and he may wait until the player has returned to full training.
Oxlade-Chamberlain limped out of the closing stages of Arsenal’s 4-1 Premier League win over Newcastle last weekend with a groin problem, which the club hope will prove to be minor.
“That’s what we’ll see on Saturday after a test. He is not in training at the moment,” Wenger said.
Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil is another who is stepping up his rehabilitation, having been out since the defeat at Chelsea on October 5 because of a knee problem.
Captain Mikel Arteta (calf), midfielder Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) and centre-back Laurent Koscielny (calf) are still out, but they are “progressing as planned”, according to the Arsenal manager.
Arsenal will be looking to remain within striking distance of the top four with a positive result at Anfield to continue their upturn in form, which has seen five wins from six games across all competitions.
The knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League await Arsenal, who have been paired with Monaco, the French club where Wenger made his name as a young coach.
Wenger won the Ligue 1 title in 1988 and the French Cup in 1991, as well as reaching the European Cup Winners’ Cup final and then the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1994.
He then managed Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan before being a surprise choice for the Arsenal job in October 1996.
He has never since faced Monaco in a competitive fixture and said he is looking forward to his return to the Stade Louis II for the second leg of the tie in March next year.
“We had very few chances to get Monaco and I think it’s a strange coincidence in life because I have spent 25 years of my life at Monaco and Arsenal together, so it’s a little bit like my life meets my life,” he said.
“It is good as well because I go back to basically where I started.
“I have never [been back], because I was always very busy and since I have been here in England we have played every three days basically throughout the whole season. I have been back to the city a few times, but never to the stadium.”
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