Just when Arsenal thought their injury problems this season were about to ease, the Gunners were dealt a huge potential blow ahead of their crunch clash with Real Madrid next week.
Defender Gabriel pulled up early during their Premier League win over Fulham, which incidentally saw the welcome return off the bench of Bukayo Saka, who ended up scoring Arsenal’s winner.
With injuries and suspensions biting all season for the north Londoners, many have pointed to this as a primary factor in Arsenal’s faltering title bid this term.
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But how bad has it really been for Mikel Arteta’s side, and how do their injury numbers compare to their top-flight rivals? We have crunched the numbers to find out.
For this list, with the help of data from Transfermarkt, we have covered three main areas:
Players injured – The number of different first-team players unavailable during the 2024/25 Premier League season Number of injuries – The number of separate periods missed through injury throughout the senior squad Matches missed – The cumulative number of matches first-team players have been unavailable for in the current campaign
Note: All stats are correct following the end of play on 1st April 2025.
Team
Players injured
Injuries
Matches missed
18
32
139
14
34
114
15
22
128
18
27
194
21
34
173
20
29
126
10
14
109
12
20
130
12
14
71
17
25
105
13
14
104
15
21
78
14
29
124
18
29
134
19
22
126
8
10
60
17
28
95
21
35
159
10
13
64
15
16
140
1 Arsenal 32 injuries, 139 matches missed
There’s no getting away from the fact that Arsenal have had a horrendous season in terms of keeping key players fit – and the stats suggest they have had it worse than many of their Premier League rivals.
Mikel Arteta has had to deal with long-term absentees like Ben White and Bukayo Saka this season, with both players only just returning to full fitness. Meanwhile, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all out for the foreseeable future.
Only three clubs can claim to have suffered more injuries than Arsenal’s 32 throughout the campaign, while the Gunners rank in the top five for each of the key injury metrics we have looked at, pointing to a high volume of not only the number of injuries, but also the lengths of the layoffs.
At the time of writing, Arsenal first-team players have missed a combined 139 Premier League matches, with that surely set to rise in the wake of Gabriel’s worrying injury in midweek.
Metric
Total
PL rank
Players injured
18
=5th
Injuries
32
4th
Matches missed
139
5th
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ByBarney Lane 2 Aston Villa 34 injuries, 114 matches missed
Aston Villa have suffered more injury setbacks than Arsenal, which may go some way to explaining why they have not been as impressive this year in the league, albeit amid a dazzling Champions League campaign.
However, the big picture is slightly brighter for Villa in the sense that some of the players involved, such as Diego Carlos and Jaden Philogene, are no longer at the club.
Most Premier League clubs this season have also seen more different players enter the treatment room, so it could be argued that Villa have got off lightly in the injury department this year.
3 Bournemouth 22 injuries, 128 matches missed
Bournemouth’s injury record this term isn’t too bleak, but for a handful of long-term injury layoffs.
The Cherries only just welcomed back Marcos Senesi from a hamstring problem, while the likes of Adam Smith, Luis Sinisterra and Enes Unal have been out for the majority of the season.
But compared to their top-flight rivals, they’ve been blessed more than most this year, which is just as well with Andoni Iraola’s impressive side looking to qualify for Europe this term.
4 Brentford 27 injuries, 194 matches missed
Brentford players have missed the most Premier League games this season through injury, though this is largely owing to several players being left unavailable throughout the campaign.
Aaron Hickey, Josh Dasilva and Gustavo Nunes have not been able to make a single league appearance, while summer signing Igor Thiago only managed a brief comeback from injury before ending up crocked once more.
The Bees’ defence has borne the brunt of their medical problems, with Rico Henry also among the major absentees, while Kristoffer Ajer and Ethan Pinnock have both spent long periods out of action.
5 Brighton & Hove Albion 34 injuries, 173 matches missed
Brighton have suffered injuries to the most players this season (21), along with Spurs.
The Seagulls have fared rather better than Ange Postecoglou’s side in the league, and will still harbour hopes of a European finish despite their issues.
The bulk of those stem from the likes of James Milner, Tariq Lamptey and summer signing Ferdi Kadioglu, while Solly March has yet to manage a run of games under Fabian Hurzeler.
Their current total of 173 league matches missed through injury is the second-worst in the Premier League behind Brentford, so all things considered, it could be argued they’ve been performing above their expected level this year.
6 Chelsea 29 matches, 126 matches missed
Given the size of Chelsea’s squad, it is inevitable that injuries will be a recurring problem. Indeed, with 29 separate injuries to deal with, only four top-flight clubs can say they’ve had it worse.
The Blues have seen 20 first-teamers enter the treatment room so far this term. Reece James has been among the frequent visitors, along with Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson.
While there are a fair amount of players without first-team experience also struggling to stay fit (such as Aaron Anselmino and Omari Kellyman), the severity of injuries to players Enzo Maresca would often start could point to why the west Londoners’ title challenge faded rather quickly.
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ByBen Browning 7 Crystal Palace 14 injuries, 109 matches missed
Crystal Palace have fared rather well on the injury front this season, which will surely have had Oliver Glasner counting his blessings given the Eagles’ slow start to the campaign.
Cheick Doucoure and Matheus Franca have been among their chief absentees this term, but on the whole, Palace have only suffered injuries to 10 players since August – two of whom are currently off the books at Selhurst Park.
In fact, bar the long layoffs in the squad, Palace have one of the fittest squads in the league.
8 Everton 20 injuries, 130 matches missed
Given their struggles in recent years, it will have been imperative that Everton keep players fit to give themselves the best chance of survival this season.
And while they’ve had their fair share (eight players have missed a period of seven straight games or more), the Toffees compare pretty well to their Premier League rivals, with injuries not exactly widespread throughout the squad.
With Premier League clubs experiencing an average of 23.4 injuries this year so far, Everton’s tally of 20 has proved more than manageable, particularly following David Moyes’ return to Merseyside.
9 Fulham 14 injuries, 71 matches missed
Fulham could claim to be one of the most consistent sides in the Premier League this term – and having the majority of their squad to choose from almost certainly plays a key role.
The Cottagers have been blessed by the injury gods this year, losing just 71 matches throughout the squad this term after 30 matches played.
When you also consider they currently have three long-term injuries creating the bulk of this, Marco Silva’s fitness team must be doing something right.
10 Ipswich Town 25 injuries, 105 matches missed
Ipswich Town were always going to be up against it as far as staying up was concerned this year, and while the Tractor Boys are not down yet, they could have done with a bit more luck on the injury front until now.
The number of injuries they have had so far has been pretty average compared to their rivals, though Ipswich currently have several first-teamers who may not make a return before the end of the campaign.
With the majority of those players attackers, you could argue that injuries have played a part in their lack of potency this year, despite the stats suggesting they have got off relatively lightly.
