Man Games Lost To Injury: Week 25 Update

This is update article of sorts. You can find previous articles on injury in the Premier League here and here.

The method is simple: Take each teams injury list before each fixture and then check this against who actually played or was on the bench and available to play. From there we get a number of injuries each club suffered per game.

Man Games Lost To Injury (Week 25)

Villa's number is just extraordinary. I'm not sure how media or fans can expect a manager to fight through that injury list. Yes, not all of those players are crucial first-teamer's (back up goalkeepers are excluded) but an injury list like that severely hampers the managers ability to select his near first choice XI or even a settled side week on week.

Four of the top six in the injury table have played the most number of games.

League Average Injuries Per Team Per Week

Average injuries per week per team varies between 3 and 4. The past 4 weeks has seen a dip in the amount of injuries suffered. Could this be a function of relatively few midweek games, with only the odd FA cup replay and one round of midweek PL fixtures having been played?

I was told by an excellent source of information (Liverpool's Physio) that injury is not so much linked to training, if you get the training right, but to hours played of competitive football.

Will we see another spike of injuries among the clubs still in European competition?

Risers and Fallers

Not all clubs are injured at a consistent rate throughout the season. As mentioned, European clubs are more likely to suffer injuries due to the increased volume of games played.

Arsenal have seen their injury list decline as the season has worn on, and this may be a very helpful trend in their battle to secure 4th place. Conversely, Wigan, who really don't have the squad depth to absorb it, have seen their injuries per week climb and become steadily worse as the season has worn on.