Arsene Wenger has said Mesut Ozil is set to remain on the sidelines for a longer spell and will miss the FA Cup tie against Preston on January 7.

The Germany international, who is sidelined due to illness, has not played since the 1-0 win over West Brom on Boxing Day and was not in the squad for the trip to Bournemouth on Tuesday. The playmaker has been receiving criticism for his dismal performance in the back-to-back losses to Everton and Manchester City but his absence was clearly felt against Bournemouth as the Gunners somehow managed to walk away with a point.

But any chance of seeing him in action soon looks bleak as Wenger said that he has not seen the former Real Madrid star for a week.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:“I haven’t seen [Ozil] for a week.”

“It was an easy decision [to not include him]. He is still in bed.

“He’s not available and I don’t think he will be available for the next game as he hasn’t done anything for a week.”

The Gunners are already missing the services of midfielder Santi Cazorla and Ozil’s absence will be a huge blow for them as they are struggling to keep their title hopes alive. Theo Walcott has also not returned to action while Francis Coquelin joined the injury list after being forced to limp off after just 28 minutes during the 3-3 draw against Bournemouth.

Meanwhile, the North London outfit’s hopes of ending their title drought this season took a major blow after the stalemate against the Cherries. Arsene Wenger’s men were looking destined to lose their third away match in a row after Ryan Fraser fired the home team to a 3-0 lead just before the hour mark. But Alexis Sanchez, Lucas Perez and Olivier Giroud scored in the final 20 minutes to salvage a draw. With this draw, Arsenal missed the chance to move third in the table and are now eight points behind leaders Chelsea, who could open up an 11-point gap on them with a win against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday,