Too Many Games Leading To Too Many Injuries

Author: Jack Guing, Last Updated: 10 Oct 2024

The new format in the 2024/2025 Champions League, which is also seen in the Europa League and Conference League has led to an increase in the amount of games that will have to be played by the Premier league clubs which are competing in these tournaments. The end of the season will also see the new Club World Cup format being introduced with English sides Manchester City and Chelsea competing. The increased games in European competitions means that the league phases of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League will run until January, before the knockout phase even begins. With the old style the group phase would end in the beginning of December and the knockout phase would not start until February, giving English sides a much needed break from European football as they approached their busy Christmas period.

This will not be the case this time, with the Christmas period being even bigger for sides competing in Europe. January is also the time the Premier League clubs enter the FA Cup, but with 2 Champions League, Europa League and Conference League match days in January, this promises to be another busy month for these teams. It can be said that this is the price you pay for being successful, but the ones gaining from these increased games are club higher ups who get extra money in their pocket for qualifying for these tournaments and the television companies, who have more matches that they can show. The players playing in these competitions are heavily compensated by their clubs with wages but these increased games come with increased risks of injuries for these players. Let's take a look at the injuries that some of these teams currently have as we look to see if there is a correlation between more games leading to more injuries.

Champions League Teams

The four English teams competing in the 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League are Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa. Manchester City currently have four injuries, all of which are to major players. Kevin De Bruyne is out with a groin injury. Nathan Ake has been out for a number of weeks with a thigh injury. Youngster Oscar Bobb has been out for a significant part of the season with an unspecified injury. The most painful of all is the ACL injury to Rodri, a player who ironically spoke out against the increased number of games.

He will be out for the season. Arsenal currently have injuries to Ben White (knee), Kai Havertz (knee), Jurrien Timber (other),Martin Odegaard (ankle), Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf). Liverpool currently have injuries to Alisson Becker (hamstring) Federico Chiesa (unknown), Alexis MacAllister (groin) and Harvey Elliott (broken foot). Aston Villa currently have injuries to Ezri Konsa (thigh), Jacob Ramsey (groin), Tyrone Mings (cruciate ligament), Boubacar Kamara (knee), John McGinn (hamstring) and Amadou Onana (hamstring)

Europa League & Conference League Teams

Manchester United and Spurs are competing in the Europa League while Chelsea are competing in the Conference League. Manchester United are currently missing Leny Yoro (ankle), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Luke Shaw (calf), Mason Mount (head), Alejandro Garnacho (knee), Harry Maguire (calf) Kobbie Mainoo (thigh) and Noussair Mazraoui (muscular). Chelsea are without Reece James (thigh), Levi Colwill (other), Omari Kellyman (thigh) and Noni Madueke (other). Spurs are without Richarlison (calf), Heung-Min Son (thigh) and Wilson Odobert (thigh).

Total Injuries

Heading into the second international break of the season according to the Premier League injury database there are a total of 100 injuries. Of these injuries 36 of them belong to the 7 teams competing in European competitions. This means that these 7 clubs amount to 36% of these injuries, while the other 13 teams amount to 64%. 36% is a massive percentage when you take into account that this is only for 7 teams. This percentage will only increase as the season goes on and these teams play more and more games. Football is a short career for players and right now with the amount of games, players careers have the potential to be even shorter, as a result of injuries. Each team will employ S&C and Performance coaches whose job it is to manage player load, but right now this load is too big to manage.

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