More injuries than anyone else – why Arsenal’s title push deserves context | OneFootball

Arsenal’s title charge has been questioned in recent weeks. Manager Mikel Arteta’s tactics and style of play have been labelled cautious, their excellence on set-pieces lambasted, and even their injury problems dismissed and derided.

The injury debate focused firmly on Arsenal when ten players, including England stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, withdrew from international duty. Thomas Tuchel, the England coach, backed the move but that did not stop those keen to see Arsenal falter again from insinuating Arteta and his staff consistently exaggerate their injury issues.

The facts and stats, however, show Arsenal have suffered more individual injuries than any other Premier League side this season.

They went into the international break nine points clear of second-placed Manchester City, though Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand.

The gap is not big enough to ease the pressure of trying to end a run of no Premier League titles since the Invincibles success of 2004, but it is pretty impressive given their bad luck with injuries.

That they are still competing in the FA Cup and Champions League too is a testament to their squad building and recruitment policy under Arteta.

Suggestions the club have overstated their injury problems are misinformed as the data tells a very different story, and one that strengthens rather than undermines Arsenal’s position heading into the run-in.

While perceptions may suggest otherwise, Arsenal have had more individual injuries than any other side in the Premier League this season.

Unlike teams such as relegation-threatened local rivals Tottenham, who have suffered longer-term absences to key players, Arsenal’s challenge has been different; enduring a constant churn of injuries disrupting rhythm, partnerships and continuity across the pitch.

It has rarely been one major setback. Instead, it has been a series of smaller ones, accumulating over time.

They started the season with a striker crisis that featured midfielder Mikel Merino having to fill in as a forward. By December, defenders including William Saliba, Gabriel, Jurrien Timber and summer signing Christhian Mosquera were all ruled out. Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori’s subsequent injuries could have been caused due to overplaying in that period.

Now they have a midfield crisis of sorts in that in-form summer signing Eberichi Eze is out until at least the end of April and captain Martin Odegaard has not played since February and has missed 26 matches in all competitions this season.

Martin Zubimendi was sent home by Spain with a knee injury and Tuchel revealed Rice has been playing at only 70 per cent capacity for a long time due to ‘discomfort.’ The decision to allow Ethan Nwaneri to join Marseille on loan in January now appears unfortunate or ill-judged.

This also helps explain some of the issues that have emerged in recent weeks. The drop in fluency, particularly in attacking areas, has coincided with the absence of Odegaard, while injuries elsewhere have forced regular adjustments.

It has also placed a heavier burden on Saka, whose importance to the team remains clear even as his output has dipped slightly in recent months.

Arteta has been consistent in assembling depth across multiple positions, and that depth is a major reason why Arsenal remain top of the league despite such regular injuries to key players. Where others have been derailed by bumps, bruises and worse, Arsenal have overcome them.

In that context, the criticism of Arteta’s methods feels increasingly mis-placed.

Set-pieces, structure and control are not signs of negativity, but of a team that understands how to manage games and maximise marginal gains over the course of a long season.

And when viewed alongside the injury record, they begin to look less like signs of weakness and more like necessary tools to win matches.

The international break offered a chance to reset before what promises to be a defining run-in, including a trip to the Etihad in April.

Arsenal’s position at the top is not built on good fortune or ‘dark arts.’ It has been earned through consistency, depth and an ability to cope with challenges that, in many cases, have been greater than widely acknowledged.

The respected Premier Injuries website (premierinjuries.com) released revealing data in conjunction with the BBC going into the last round of matches before the international break and illustrated the number of injuries suffered by Premier League clubs this season.

Premier League Injuries 2025/26

The chart above shows how many times a team has missed a player for at least one match in the league this season. That said, it will, of course, be interesting to see how many of Arsenal’s international ‘walking wounded’ recover to take a part in their next match, in the FA Cup away to Southampton on 4 April.