How Arsenal injury problems compare with EPL rivals

If you are one of the Arsenal fans who give credence to the theory that injury problems have quite a big impact on a club and it´s ability to win a trophy, especially a league title like the Premier League that is hard fought over a long time and a large number of games, then you will surely be concerned that once again it is the Gunners that have more players out of action than all of our main EPL rivals.

Once again this weekend we finished up with more problems for Arsene Wenger to worry about on that front, so I thought it was worth taking a detailed look at our injury situation and comparing it to those of the other title challengers and asking just how much say it is likely to have on our season.

While the boss was quite positive in an Arsenal.com report about the knocks picked up by Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in the win over Bournemouth he also suggested that the right back Matthieu Debuchy is more serious and with our first choice Hector Bellerin already on the injury list this is bad news and just highlights how bad our luck is.

The sports injury website physioroom.com shows that Arsenal are joint top of the injury list with seven players missing. It is our big rivals and their situation that matters as well though, and just like last season with Leicester City, the team currently on top, Chelsea, have the fewest injuries (2) and both John Terry and Jon Obi Mikel are due back in a week or so.

Man City and Man United each have three players on the list but once again they are all due back in action very soon, with only Vincent Kompany´s return set for after christmas. The only title rival with anything close to the problems facing the Gunners is Liverpool, who lost their main creative spark Coutinho for a long spell last week. That puts seven of their players in the treatment room although Sturridge is only a slight doubt for the EFL cup match tomorrow.

Of course an injury can occur at any time, but with Arsenal missing key players like Cazorla, Bellerin, Welbeck and Mertesacker, are we hoping for Chelsea and Man City to have problems in order to even things up and give us a realistic shot at the EPL title?

Bob.

Tags Cazorla Debuchy Giroud

4 Comments

  1. If the available players can hold forth until the injured players return, we have a solid chance. Slightly bad patches like we are experiencing now can not destroy our chances. After all, we are only a few points off the tentative leaders.
    Cazorla and Bellerin are the players we should pray should return soon.

  2. Apart from Santi and Bellerin, am glad Welbeck and Lucas will be back soon. They will help Giroud and Sanchez in some games.. Especially when fatigues set in Or when players are not in form.

  3. I don’t really see Mert getting back in the team, not with Kos & Mustafi. It seems weird how Wenger gives the captaincy to players certain to be sidelined, like Arteta last year. Santi and Bellerin has been a big hit, as both are creative from the back, and we are normally never without either of them, let alone both. Not sure why Wenger is being so coy on Santi’s return…, he must have some idea.

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