Man Utd, Arsenal Injury Issues Laid Bare By Staggering Statistics

Arsenal’s fitness issues have been pronounced recently but Man Utd have been dealing with a £150 million injury problem over the past five years.

Ruben Amorim (left) and Mikel Arteta have both had plenty of defensive headaches to manage. / Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/James Gill-Danehouse/Getty Images

Arsenal’s tally of unique injuries since the start of last season has passed the century mark, however, even the Gunners can’t match Manchester United’s woeful record over the last five years.

Ben White pulled up with a hamstring injury which could keep him sidelined for one month during the helter-skelter weekend win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. In the process of trying and failing to catch up with Hwang Hee-chan, the English full back logged the 100th different injury incident to have befallen Mikel Arteta’s side since the start of the 2024–25 campaign.

No Premier League side, not even United, can match that tally over this condensed period, per Sky Sports News.

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Arsenal’s Unwanted Century of Injuries

Ben White was the latest injury concern for Mikel Arteta. / Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

Rank	Team	Injuries Since August 2024
1.	Arsenal	100
2.	Brighton	97
3.	Tottenham	90
4.	Newcastle	86
5.	Aston Villa	85
6.	Man City	82
=7	Chelsea	78
=7	Man Utd	78
9.	Wolves	72
10.	Crystal Palace	69
11.	Liverpool	67
=12	Brentford	61
=12	Everton	61
14.	Nottingham Forest	56
15.	Bournemouth	55
16.	Fulham	46
17.	West Ham	43

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White was the most likely candidate to tip Arsenal into triple digits. The buccaneering defender has been injured on nine separate occasions over the past 18 months, keeping him out for a yawning 166 days and counting.

Intriguingly, Declan Rice is deemed to be the second-most injury-prone Arsenal player, racking up eight different fitness setbacks. However, the formidably durable midfielder has only been forced out for 33 days, forever sustaining a knock which is just as swiftly brushed off.

The Gunners are currently without a whole glut of defenders, forcing the few fit players to overload themselves in the process of covering for their absent teammates. Arteta has been at pains to lament this “really dangerous” cycle and warned that the fitness woes won’t stop at 100. In the words of the beleaguered manager, Arsenal are “buying tickets for another injury.”

United’s absentees have cost them plenty this decade.

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Man Utd’s £150 Million Injury Problem

Martínez played consistently under Amorim before his injury. / Michael Regan/Getty Images

Team	Total Injury Count	Total Injury Cost
1. Man Utd	399	£154.5 million
2. Chelsea	357	£137.9 million
3. Newcastle	355	£105 million
4. Arsenal	322	£99.7 million
5. Liverpool	312	£82.8 million
6. Man City	290	£72.3 million
7. Everton	284	£66.7 million
8. Tottenham	282	£61.6 million
9. Brighton	267	£56.6 million
10. Aston Villa	235	£39.7 million

Taking into account the wages paid to players during their injured spells, the Howden Football Injury Index (via The Times) have calculated the cost of fitness setbacks between 2020–21 and 2024–25. Over this half-decade, no club can match the £154.5 million ($206.7 million) United splashed on those inside their treatment room.

The Red Devils posted the worst injury records across the entire Premier League in three of the last five seasons (2020–21, 2022–23 and 2023–24). Ruben Amorim’s side have been less overtly impacted over the past 18 months, but fitness issues continue to persist.

Lisandro Martínez is still being gently ushered back after damaging his ACL 10 months ago in February, while Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt are currently battling fitness complaints of their own. This glut of defensive absentees forced Amorim to start the 19-year-old Ayden Heaven in the middle of his back three for the first time after Bournemouth on Monday. The hosts promptly shipped four goals at Old Trafford.

In the world of ever-advancing sports science, injury prevention is becoming increasingly more sophisticated. Yet, the mantra offered by Liverpool’s legendary manager Bob Paisley from the 1980s still holds true now. “You keep your fingers crossed about injuries,” he was known to say. “That is in the lap of the gods.”

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