Which Premier League clubs had most injuries?
- Published
It has been a Premier League season beset with injuries, almost from the very first whistle.
Many managers have pointed to crippling absence lists, including Newcastle's Eddie Howe, Manchester United's Erik ten Hag, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea and Brighton's Roberto de Zerbi.
A number of factors have been discussed including the relentless playing schedule for elite players and clubs with European and international fixtures, as well as longer games due to stricter rules on time-wasting.
Take a look at the four key charts compiled by the Premier Injuries website, external below to see where your teams ranks on the 'injury scale'.
Man United top injury table
Who had the most injuries?
'Time-loss' injuries 2023-24
Team | Separate injuries |
---|---|
MNU | 45 |
CHE | 43 |
NEW | 41 |
BRI | 41 |
AST | 39 |
TOT | 37 |
CRY | 37 |
FOR | 36 |
LIV | 35 |
LUT | 35 |
EVE | 33 |
SHU | 31 |
BRE | 29 |
MNC | 26 |
WHU | 26 |
WOL | 26 |
BOU | 25 |
BUR | 25 |
ARS | 23 |
FUL | 22 |
Total | 655 |
Research conducted for more than 20 years by the Premier Injuries website suggests that the total number of individual injuries, where a player missed at least one Premier League game, was the highest they had recorded.
Many players suffered more than one injury.
The total number of injuries this season rose by 11% on last season, which had a winter World Cup in the middle.
Hamstring injuries were up 18% year on year.
"With fatigue, you're fine until your body reaches the breaking point and then you have a problem," said Premier Injuries' Ben Dinnery. "The biggest red flag with injuries is fatigue."
The data is calculated from the first weekend of the season to the final day.
Man City had fewest individual players injured
This chart shows the number of separate players injured through the season - almost all of Tottenham's 26-man first team squad were injured at some point.
Title-winners Manchester City had the fewest number of players impacted by injury.
"It shows Pep Guardiola's experience in dealing with elite level players and how to rotate your squad to get the best out of them," Dinnery said.
Most individual players injured
Premier League 2023-24
Team | Players injured |
---|---|
TOT | 22 |
BRI | 21 |
LIV | 21 |
MNU | 21 |
AST | 20 |
CHE | 20 |
CRY | 20 |
NEW | 20 |
FOR | 19 |
BOU | 18 |
BRE | 18 |
LUT | 18 |
SHU | 17 |
WHU | 17 |
BUR | 16 |
WOL | 16 |
EVE | 15 |
ARS | 14 |
FUL | 14 |
MNC | 14 |
Total | 361 |
Injured Newcastle players missed most days
Dinnery says that their initial findings suggest the total days lost to injury of 25,131 across the 20 clubs is the most they have recorded.
Compared to 2022-23, the total days lost to injuries was up 19%.
The list does not include the likes of Aston Villa's Emi Buendia, Manchester United's Tyrell Malacia or Chelsea's Wesley Fofana because they were injured before the start of the campaign.
But in terms of a single injury - Villa's Tyrone Mings (281 days) is the longest, followed by Arsenal's Jurrien Timber (254 days), Brentford's Rico Henry (246 days), Sheffield United's John Egan (232 days) and Tottenham's Manor Solomon (229 days).
Chelsea's Reece James was out for 206 days from two injuries, and Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez missed 214 days from three separate injuries.
Total days lost to injuries
Premier League 2023-24
Team | Days lost |
---|---|
NEW | 1,950 |
SHU | 1,761 |
CHE | 1,745 |
BRI | 1,727 |
BRE | 1,702 |
MNU | 1,620 |
CRY | 1,582 |
LUT | 1,428 |
TOT | 1,402 |
LIV | 1,383 |
BUR | 1,290 |
AST | 1,236 |
FOR | 1,068 |
ARS | 898 |
BOU | 882 |
EVE | 832 |
WOL | 724 |
FUL | 675 |
MNC | 672 |
WHU | 564 |
Total | 25,131 |
'A full team out injured'
The sight of Casemiro exposed as Manchester United's makeshift centre-back and the enforced breakthrough of 'Klopp's kids' this season reflects that, at times, several clubs have had an entire XI out injured.
Dinnery said: "Recruitment is huge. Dominik Szoboszlai at Liverpool has had a few injury problems. That can be down to new players adapting to the Premier League.
"Brighton and Newcastle unexpectedly qualified for Europe so their workload increased significantly but it's not just down to the number of games they've played, it's down to travel and disruption to training.
"The Premier League is unique because of the intensity. Players are required to run harder, faster and for longer with less recovery time."
This chart shows the worst game weeks where the maximum number of players were out at any one time.
Worst injury weeks per PL club
Max players out in one game week
Team | Max players out |
---|---|
CHE | 11 |
LUT | 11 |
MNU | 11 |
NEW | 11 |
AST | 10 |
BRI | 9 |
CRY | 9 |
LIV | 9 |
SHU | 9 |
TOT | 9 |
BRE | 8 |
BOU | 7 |
ARS | 7 |
EVE | 7 |
FOR | 7 |
WOL | 7 |
BUR | 6 |
FUL | 5 |
MNC | 4 |
WHU | 4 |
Avg | 8 |
- Published11 August 2023