Alexis Sanchez to make Arsenal return for Man City friendly

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez will attempt to prove his fitness ahead of the Premier League opener against Liverpool when the Chile international makes his first pre-season appearance of the summer against Manchester City in Gothenburg. Sanchez has been given an extended break after winning the Copa American earlier this summer but has travelled with the Gunners during their two-match Scandinavian tour.

The north Londoners beat Norwegian club Viking 8-0 in their penultimate pre-season friendly, but they face the challenge of Pep Guardiola's City in their final game before the curtain comes down on the new domestic season. Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny remain out but Wenger is ready to call on the other members of his squad involved in the European Championships.

Sanchez is expected to be involved alongside Aaron Ramsey - whose Wales side reached the semi-finals - while new signing Granit Xhaka will return having already made his debut against MLS All-Stars earlier in the summer. Goalkeepers Petr Cech, who featured for the Czech Republic before retiring from international football, and Emiliano Martinez will also feature against their Premier League rivals.

"Alexis and Aaron Ramsey will play a part in the game," Wenger told the Arsenal official website. "Both of them are in reasonably good form physically. I took this Friday and Sunday to give competition to everybody so I will see how much and how long I will play them for. Granit Xhaka will come in, certainly. He did not play at all on Friday, and maybe Calum Chambers too. We'll see in training. The players who have not played will all be involved on Sunday."

Wenger has admitted to having already made several decisions over who will play in Arsenal's season-opener against Liverpool - and with wafer-thin options in defence the French coach could be forced into naming an inexperienced back-line. That defence could include Krystian Bielik, who could make his senior debut, Calum Chambers and new signing Rob Holding.

"It [the Man City game] will contribute," the Arsenal boss added. "I already have an idea. It will contribute but on Sunday we will play against top-class strikers who will want to do well against us. Our defenders will be tested so I might use a few combinations during the game. I believe that Bielik, Chambers and Holding will be fighting for the place between the three of them.

"[Up front] I like Walcott in that position and I like Alexis in that position as well. I might start Alexis on Sunday because Walcott played a large part in Friday's game [against Viking]. I don't know how ready Alexis is physically for that intensity."