EPL injuries: City, Arsenal bemoan problems but Brighton, Ipswich suffer most

Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta have complained about injury problems this season, but which Premier League sides have been most affected? The data provides some surprises.

Manchester City and Arsenal are without key players, including Rodri, who is out with a knee injury, and Martin Odegaard, who missed two months with an ankle problem.

Guardiola said City were “in trouble” as early as October due to their injuries and described their problems as the worst of his managerial career, while Arteta described a two-month spell as an injury “nightmare” for Arsenal after their 1-1 draw. draw with Chelsea.

We asked Premier Injuries to crunch the numbers on how their injury problems compare to those of other Premier League sides.

The chart above ranks Premier League teams by the total number of injuries that have caused players to miss at least one match this season.

It is not City or Arsenal, but Brighton who are joint top in seventeenth place.

Newly promoted Ipswich have also suffered seventeen separate time-loss injuries each, with Arsenal and Tottenham each on the list with sixteen injuries each.

This means that there are five teams that have suffered more individual injuries than City, which has fourteen.

Premier League leaders Liverpool have suffered 11 injuries, the same number as Manchester United, whose injury problems have subsided this season after topping the charts with 45 separate injuries over the course of last campaign.

At the other end of the spectrum, West Ham have suffered the fewest injuries, with players missing games with five, fewer than Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, who have had eight and six respectively.

What about the severity of the injuries?

That's where the graph above comes in, showing the total days lost to injuries for each Premier League club.

Brighton sit at the top, their 17 separate injuries amounting to a whopping 638 days lost to injury, a statistic that makes their strong start to the season under Fabian Hurzeler even more impressive.

The Seagulls have been without Solly March all season, with new signing Matt O'Riley also missing a significant part of the season and Yankuba Minteh only just back from injury.

Ipswich are second in days lost to injuries, on 530. Their problems add to the already difficult task they face of staying in the division under Kieran McKenna, while Crystal Palace have also been badly hit.

According to Premier Injuries, the Eagles have lost 444 days due to injuries, just ahead of Tottenham and Arsenal on 408 and 406 respectively.

Liverpool are seventh, on 382, ​​ahead of Manchester City in eighth, after 372 days lost to injuries.

West Ham are not only the least affected team in terms of total injuries, but are also bottom of the list for days lost due to injuries.

Obviously the numbers do not reflect the importance of the players who are sidelined.

Speaking on Friday, City boss Pep Guardiola said it will soon be the same for all clubs due to an increasingly busy fixture list.

“We have more games than ever on this calendar,” he said. “The number of injuries we had today made me think about the fact that you need a squad of 25 to 30 players.

“Financially it will be more difficult for the club. In the summer we will play the Club World Cup in three weeks and then the Premier League will start again.

“Maybe we should have more depth in our team. When people say: 'what's the problem?' The problem is the schedule.

“It's not about the players, it's not about the physios, it's not about the training, it's not about how they eat or how they rest. It's about the schedule.”

“Sooner or later it will happen to all clubs. This is the truth.”

There is no doubt that City and Arsenal have been without vital individuals. But the data shows other clubs have suffered more in terms of injury totals and days lost.

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