Pep Guardiola has bemoaned injury problems this season but which Premier League sides have been most affected? The data throws up some surprises.
Manchester City have had to do without key players, including Rodri, who is out with a knee injury.
Speaking on Friday, City boss Guardiola said it will soon be the same for all clubs as a result of an increasingly congested schedule.
“We have more games than ever in this calendar,” he said. “The number of injuries we’ve had has today made me reflect that you need a squad of 25-30 players.
“It will be more difficult financially for the club. In the summer, we will play the Club World Cup over three weeks and then the Premier League will start again.
“Maybe then we will have to have more depth to our squad. When people say, ‘what is the problem?’ The problem is the schedule.
“It’s not the players, it’s not the physios, it’s not the training, it’s not how they eat or how they rest. It’s the schedule.
“Sooner or later it will happen for all the clubs. This is the truth.”
There’s no doubting City have been without vital individuals. But the data shows other clubs have suffered more in terms of injury totals and days lost.
We asked Premier Injuries to crunch the numbers on how their injury problems compare to those of other Premier League sides.
The graphic above ranks Premier League teams by the total number of injuries causing players to miss at least one game this season.
That number could include the same player two or more times if the player has suffered more than one injury or suffered a recurrence of the same injury after returning to competitive play, or being included in the first-team or U21 matchday squad.
It’s not City or Arsenal but Brighton who sit joint-top, on 17.
Newly-promoted Ipswich have also suffered 17 separate time-loss injuries each, with Arsenal and Tottenham next on the list with 16 injuries each.
That means there are five teams who have suffered more individual injuries than City, who are on 14.
Premier League leaders Liverpool have suffered 11 injuries, the same number as Manchester United, whose injury problems have lessened this season after they topped the metric with 45 separate injuries over the course of the last campaign.
At the other end of the scale, West Ham have suffered the fewest injuries causing players to miss games with five, below Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, who have had eight and six respectively.
What about the severity of the injuries?
That’s where the graphic above comes in, showing combined days lost to injuries for each Premier League club.
Brighton sit top, their 17 separate injuries amounting to a whopping 638 days lost to injuries, a statistic which makes their strong start to the season under Fabian Hurzeler even more impressive.
The Seagulls have been without Solly March all season, with new signing Matt O’Riley also missing a significant chunk of the campaign, and Yankuba Minteh has only just come back from injury.
Ipswich are second for days lost to injuries, on 530, their problems adding to the already difficult task they face to stay in the division under Kieran McKenna, while Crystal Palace have also been badly affected.
The Eagles have lost 444 days to injuries, according to Premier Injuries, just ahead of Tottenham and Arsenal on 408 and 406 respectively.
Liverpool are seventh, on 382, ahead of Manchester City in eighth, on 372 days lost to injuries.
West Ham, in addition to being the least-affected side in terms of total injuries, are bottom for days lost to injuries.
Of course, the numbers do not reflect the importance of the players sidelined.