Premier League Injury Crisis: What’s Going Wrong?

With the expansion of the Champions League and Europa League, longer summer tournaments and the Club World Cup, players have ever-increasing workloads with the amount of injuries set to increase in the coming months. This surge isn’t confined to just one or two clubs; it’s a league-wide problem that’s impacing both the quality of the game and the performance of teams.

Players in the top half of the Premier League can be involved in league matches, domestic cup games, European competitions and international matches, resulting in a more intense schedule. Fixture congestion can lead to burnout, injuries and decline in performance, which have been prominent narratives for the 2024-25 Premier League season so far, witnessing key stars suffering major injuries. The likes of Manchester City's Rodri and Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus are among the high-profile stars to have suffered ACL injuries.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke with Sky Sports about how an increasingly busy calendar will soon lead to an injury problem for all clubs adding: “We have more games than ever in this calendar, the number of injuries we’ve had has today made me reflect that you need a squad of 25-30 players.”

PremierInjuries.com ranked Tottenham as having the third highest volume of separate injuries (21) up to 15 January, with the second highest days lost to injury (655) this season. Brighton were first with 23 injuries costing 914 days.

The current injury crisis at Tootenham Hotspur may have denied Ange Postecoglou a substantial chunk of his first-team squad this season. In three of Postecoglou’s last four club roles — at Brisbane Roar, Yokohama Marinos and Celtic — he overcame teething problems to win the league title in his second season. At one stage during his first year with Celtic all of the senior strikers were injured.

“The hamstring injuries are obviously something we want to get on top of but it’s not new to me either,” Postecoglou said in December 2021, after Kyogo Furuhashi was injured in Celtic’s Europa League victory over Real Betis. “The way we play, I understand — and have done at the clubs I’ve been at — that the beginnings are always difficult. We play differently and train differently and it takes players time to adjust to that, and along the way we obviously pay a price.

“But the one thing I’ve never done, and I won’t do in my whole career, is compromise the football team we want to be because we are not quite ready to be there. I’d rather keep going at the pace we are going and it means we are going to have some casualties along the way.”

Injuries are part and parcel of the footballing schedule. Some teams in the Premier League are struck heavily, while there are a handful that manage to go the entirety of the campaign relatively unscathed.

Last season, the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle United endured their fair share of injury woes - as evidenced by their poor, by their own respective standards, finishes at the end of the campaign.

Now, more than halfway into the current 2024/25 campaign, there are a plethora of injuries that have crept up - from the high-profile injury to Martin Odegaard to the lesser-known knock of James Milner.

Here, using the information provided by Premier Injuries, as per Sky Sports, are all 20 Premier League teams ranked on the severity of their injury problems with figures based on the number of injuries each side has faced this term that has seen players miss at least one game, along with how many days every player combined at the club have endured on the sidelines.

Premier League Teams Ranked by Injuries Suffered in 2024-25

https://www.givemesport.com/every-premier-league-team-ranked...

Among the injuries sustained so far, the most common have been hamstring injuries and general impact injuries, with 47 and 45 cases respectively. Other muscle injuries, knee injuries (excluding ACL) and ankle injuries are among the other reasons why Premier League teams find themselves with unavailable players this season.

In contrast, the injuries that have been less frequent up to this point are back injuries with seven instances (dark green section of the chart), head and shoulder injuries with five cases (red section of the chart) and finally toe injuries with only four players suffering from them (dark red section of the chart).

Among the most common football injuries are muscular strains and sprains, particularly in the lower body. Hamstring injuries are especially prevalent due to the explosive movements players often have to make. Ligament injuries, such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, are another common issue that can side line a player for an entire season.

Additionally, concussions and other head injuries are an increasing concern, highlighting the need for improved player safety protocols.
With the January transfer window in full swing, now is the perfect time to make sure your career is fully protected. Whether you're making a move or staying where you are, having the right insurance in place is essential to safeguarding your future in football.

For over 20 years, Pro Secure has teamed up with the PFA to protect players when it matters most.

The Importance of Career Ending Insurance Cover

Whilst the risk of injury and illness may be unavoidable, its financial impact can be significantly mitigated with the proper planning and the correct cover. A player’s contract determines how long their club is obliged to pay their salary after they sustain a serious or career ending injury.

This timeframe is governed by the contract and a country’s legislation, which varies from one country to another. If the worst happens to a player, their club can terminate their contract and, in some cases, stop paying their salary after six months.

Having a personal accident and illness policy can therefore safeguard a player’s financial future should the unthinkable happen. As long serving business partners of the PFA, Pro-Secure is the only football insurance recommended and endorsed by the PFA protecting careers and ensuring financial stability.

Pro-Secure policies cover career-ending injuries, safeguarding professional players against the financial impact of unexpected accidents, on and off the pitch.