Arsene Wenger licking his lips at prospect of pairing Alexis Sanchez with Theo Walcott in Arsenal's attack

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On the pitch, Arsene Wenger watches Alexis Sanchez take his Arsenal tally to eight with a clinical double to sink sorry Sunderland.

Behind him sits Theo Walcott, the fit-again England star who he cannot wait to unleash alongside Sanchez — possibly as soon as Saturday when Burnley visit the Emirates.

‘My imagination works like yours,’ said Wenger when pressed on the prospect of Walcott joining forces with the Chilean forward.

Alexis Sanchez wheels away after scoring his second in Arsenal's 2-0 win at Sunderland

A terrible back pass by Wes Brown allowed Sanchez to steal the ball and open the scoring

Sanchez nips in to seal his brace after an even worse defensive error from Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone

Sanchez's heat map shows how he dominated the centre of Arsenal's attack against the Black Cats

‘Theo’s runs off the ball are fantastic and he gives you hope that we will score.’

In the meantime, Sanchez has kept Arsenal, in fifth, clinging to the early-season pace-setters.

The £30million signing from Barcelona punished a calamitous Sunderland. First he seized upon Wes Brown’s horribly undercooked back-pass before drawing goalkeeper Vito Mannone to him with the ease of a snake charmer and dinking delightfully beyond him.

Then, when Mannone panicked under pressure from Sanchez late on, the Arsenal man stole in to win the ball and prod it home.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has certainly been impressed by his new comrade, likening him to Luis Suarez, the player who, ironically, replaced Sanchez at the Nou Camp.

‘He’s a world-class player — everyone saw that at the World Cup,’ said the 21-year-old. ‘He reminds me of Luis Suarez when he chases everything down and he makes nothing into something. He’s done that for us twice and he’s scored goals at important times for us.’

Theo Walcott (L)  chats with Aaron Ramsey after returning from a long spell out with a knee ligament injury

Deleilah the Sunderland mascot welcomes Walcott back at the Stadium of Light

Arsene Wenger (L) is looking forward to playing Walcott and Sanchez together for the first time

Arsenal’s victory was just their third in the league this season but arrived on the back of their come-from-behind triumph at Anderlecht. Injuries have blighted their progress — Mesut Ozil, Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud are long-term absentees — but Mathieu Flamini insists their season remains very much intact.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has likened Sanchez to former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez

Mathieu Flamini insists that Arsenal are on the road to recovery after a struggling start

‘It has been tough for us,’ he said. ‘But if you look where we are, in the top six and hopefully on course for the next stage of the Champions League, then it has not been a bad start this season.

‘The spirit in the team this year is great.’

Sanchez, it seems, has made all the difference.