Alexis Sanchez's movement is fuelling Mesut Ozil's scoring streak, says Arsenal legend Thierry Henry

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James Benge26 October 2016

Thierry Henry has credited Alexis Sanchez as the reason behind Mesut Ozil’s run of goalscoring form at Arsenal.

Ozil has scored six times in just nine appearances for Arsenal this season and netted the first hat-trick of his career last week in a 6-0 win over Ludogorets. With little over two months of the campaign gone the 28-year-old is just three goals short of his record tally in England.

The German playmaker is not the only Arsenal player to have made a dramatic improvement to his goalscoring output. Theo Walcott is the club’s top scorer with eight in 11 whilst a brace in the EFL Cup win over Reading took Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to five goals, his best return in a season.

Arsene Wenger told Standard Sport that the improved output from midfield was down to a “more confident… relaxed” atmosphere at the club but Henry was keen to ensure that Sanchez, no slouch on the scoresheet either with six in 12, get the credit he deserves.

Wenger has switched the Chilean to a central striking role this season, giving Sanchez licence to drift wide and into space in the same way that Henry did in his Arsenal pomp.

“By myself, I always said in the past two years that Sanchez could be used as an option as a centre-forward,” said Henry.

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“He's finally playing as a centre forward. He does it for Chile, so it's not something that he doesn't know how to do.

“He did it for Udinese also in Italy and does it ever so well.

“When you have a guy who as a No.9, the way he puts pressure, the way he moves, his vision for the ball, that creates a lot of holes for Ozil.

“That’s why Ozil is scoring a lot of goals – off the movement of Alexis Sanchez.”

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