The Premier League is one of the toughest leagues in the world, everyone attests to that. Blood and thunder football is on display week-in-week-out and it should not be a surprise that many players pick up injuries that keep them out for a period of time.
The fact that English football does not have a winter break and the dual domestic cup competitions (FA Cup and EFL Cup) also adds to the fixture congestion and lead to more injuries for the Premier League sides.
We all know about the incredible injury record of current English players such as Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge but what is the injury record of the top clubs in the Premier League?
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While the old guard of the “Big Four”, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United feature on the list, we cannot forget Manchester City. The Blue half of Manchester has risen in stature thanks to their new owners and is a force to be reckoned with every year.
We look at the injury records of these top teams in the league and rank them in ascending order.
Please note: All stats/records are taken from PhysioRoom from the start of the 2002 season till 7 September 2016.
5) Liverpool – 698 injuries
The Merseyside giants might be playing a number of tough games, especially against the likes of Manchester United and Everton, but the side has come out relatively unscathed in the Premier League era.
From the start of the 2002 season, the Reds have had to deal with 698 different injuries. Daniel Sturridge has picked up 20 different injuries during his time with the Merseyside club which is close to 3% of all injuries between 2002 till 7 September. Steven Gerrard comes out on top of this list with 48 injuries but that was bound to happen due to his aggressive playing nature.
Daniel Agger is another player who came up with a high number of injuries, 31 between 2008 and 2014, while Jamie Carragher had just 13 reported injuries between 2002 till 2013.
Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at the club from 8 October 2015 has seen 82 different injuries taking place and certainly the German would not want to have such a record under his belt at Liverpool.
Top 10 injured players since 2002 | Number of injuries |
|---|---|
Steven Gerrard | 48 |
Daniel Agger | 31 |
Martin Skrtel | 21 |
Daniel Sturridge | 20 |
Harry Kewell | 17 |
Fabio Aurelio | 16 |
Glen Johnson | 15 |
Steve Finnan | 15 |
Jordan Henderson | 14 |
Xabi Alonso | 14 |
4) Manchester City – 736 injuries
The Blue half of Manchester has won the Premier League twice and with the big bucks of Abu Dhabi backing the team, it is no surprise that some of the biggest names in world football are now playing for the Etihad based club.
The side have picked up a massive 736 injuries over the years and the chief culprit is former City defender Micah Richards with 40 injuries during his playing time at the club. Surprisingly, Sergio Aguero isn’t second on the list and that record falls to current Yaya Toure, who has 34 injuries since 2002.
The player coming out third on the list is Vincent Kompany with 33. Aguero does come fourth in the list of injuries, tied with the likes of David Silva and Samir Nasri. It is no wonder that Manchester City end up struggling for large portions of the season, especially when their talismanic players pick up regular injuries.
Top 10 injured players since 2002 | Number of injuries |
|---|---|
Micah Richards | 40 |
Yaya Toure | 34 |
Vincent Kompany | 33 |
David Silva | 26 |
Samir Nasri | 26 |
Sergio Aguero | 26 |
Mario Balotelli | 15 |
Pablo Javier Zabaleta | 14 |
Trevor Sinclair | 14 |
Claudio Reyna | 13 |
3) Chelsea – 740 injuries
Chelsea are another club that has seen a meteoric rise in the late 2000s thanks to their wealthy owner Roman Abramovich. The London club have been able to sign a number of world class players such as Didier Drogba and Hernan Crespo over the years, but even the best physiotherapists can’t always ensure the team stays fit and healthy.
The Blues have seen 740 injuries since 2002 and unsurprisingly the player picking up an injury the most has been John Terry. The Chelsea captain has been a mainstay for years and he doesn’t mind going in for a tackle or two in a game, thus the high number of visits to the doctor.
The next player who picked up an injury the most is Didier Drogba. One of Chelsea’s greatest strikers, the Ivorian was injured on 40 separate occasions across his two stints at the club. Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard come up third and fourth in this list, respectively.
Maybe the sheer number of injuries also got to Eva Carneiro or maybe it really was Jose being Jose and forced her out of the club.
Top 10 injured players since 2002 | Number of injuries |
|---|---|
John Terry | 50 |
Didier Drogba | 40 |
Ashley Cole | 29 |
Frank Lampard | 25 |
Petr Cech | 21 |
Eden Hazard | 20 |
Ricardo Carvalho | 19 |
David Luiz | 18 |
Diego Costa | 18 |
Mikel John Obi | 18 |
2) Manchester United – 953 injuries
The record Premier League champions have been known to play a fast-paced, attacking game and that will certainly have an effect on the playing squad. Manchester United have had 953 separate injuries to their players since 2002, which is a pretty large number.
The Manchester club have also had to deal with many players that have iffy injury records such as Louis Saha and again, unsurprisingly, the player who has been injured the most at the club is Wayne Rooney.
The England and Manchester United captain has picked up 63 different injuries since 2002 and the player next on the list is an old boy, Rio Ferdinand. The English defender had picked up 50 separate injuries between 2002 and 2014, certainly a record he would not be too proud of.
Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville are tied on third in this list with 36 injuries each while current West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans is next with 34 injuries. The former United defender only started featuring in the list from 2009, just another reason to sell him off, I guess.
| Top 10 injured players since 2002 | Number of injuries |
|---|---|
Wayne Rooney | 63 |
Rio Ferdinand | 50 |
Gary Neville | 36 |
Ryan Giggs | 36 |
Jonny Evans | 34 |
Michael Carrick | 29 |
Nemanja Vidic | 29 |
Rafael da Silva | 28 |
Phil Jones | 27 |
Chris Smalling | 24 |
1) Arsenal – 1018 injuries
This is one list that no Arsenal fan would have wanted to see their team top. The London club have not won the Premier League in over a decade but many of their players have spent too much time on the treatment table.
While everyone knows the history of Abou Diaby and his incredible injury record, the player who has actually been the most injury prone is Theo Walcott. The English attacker has not been able to cement his place in the Arsenal starting XI over the years and certainly has not been able to avoid the doctor’s room.
Walcott has picked up 46 injuries since 2002 and Diaby had 42 before he left the club to join Marseille in 2015. The next player on the list is Thomas Rosicky with 41 injuries since 2002.
At least Arsene Wenger can’t use the excuse that his best players are always injured, now.
Top 10 injured players since 2002 | Number of injuries |
|---|---|
Theo Walcott | 46 |
Abou Diaby | 42 |
Tomas Rosicky | 41 |
Kieran Gibbs | 32 |
Fredrik Ljungberg | 29 |
Laurent Koscielny | 29 |
Robin van Persie | 27 |
Jack Wilshere | 26 |
Thomas Vermaelen | 24 |
Aaron Ramsey | 23 |
