How has Arsenal managed to overcome their injury crisis?

The loss to Aston Villa shocked Arsenal as their lead over Man City shrank to just 2 points. Yet, Mikel Arteta’s squad must find ways to overcome the injury crisis to avoid repeating a negative cycle.

If Arteta points to injuries as a factor behind Arsenal’s fading explosive form, he can refer to these stats: Arsenal have suffered 26 injuries since the season began, second only to Leeds’ 28. Including last season, Arsenal have endured 93 different injuries. Currently, four players remain sidelined: three center-backs William Saliba, Gabriel, Cristhian Mosquera, and forward Kai Havertz. Overall, 14 Arsenal players have been injured at various levels, with some still struggling to regain their previous performance levels.

What do these statistics reveal? The responsibility of the medical team at Emirates is clear. However, it’s also possible that Arteta has at times pushed the players’ physical limits too far, as indicated by the marked increase in hamstring injuries. Whatever the cause, despite Arsenal’s investment in 8 new signings totaling £267 million, the injury headache persists. Another issue at Emirates is that Arsenal’s injuries don’t occur randomly but often in clusters, such as the three center-backs simultaneously sidelined or earlier this year when Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz were both out for extended periods. This situation has left Arteta confused and forced him to act as a patchwork manager, as seen when Mikel Merino played as a false number 9 last season or Jurrien Timber shifted from right-back to center-back alongside Hincapie in matches against Brentford and Aston Villa.