Arsenal fans could be forgiven for thinking that the football gods have got something against us, at least when it comes to the injury problems suffered by our players at least. But surprisingly enough, we have not had it the worst in the Premier League this season.
There was a report this week claiming that Manchester United have actually been the club with the most injuries and they have had it bad, although the number of injuries does not tell the whole story. It is the number of days lost to injury that really matters and, of course, the importance of the players in question.
As revealed by injuryleague.com it is actually Newcastle that have had the biggest problem this season, while the Gunners have improved from last year and are only fourth in the table. But what really stands out for me is the difference between us and Chelsea who are bottom of the table with just 77 points. Our own total of 219 is almost three times that of the champions elect and when you consider that we have lost key players like Giroud, Ozil, Ramsey, Koscielny and Chamberlain, there is a very good argument there for injuries costing us the title.
As the table for last season on physioroom.com shows, Arsenal topped the table with a whopping 1716 points and it is perhaps very telling that the three teams that finished above us fared much better. Liverpool had about half as many problems with 997, Man City had 929 and Chelsea once again were relatively untouched with just 556.
That cannot be a coincidence can it?