THE Premier League could descend into chaos this season due to the growing injury toll on its stars.
That is the warning from PFA boss Maheta Molango, who is alarmed at the increased casualty list across England’s top flight.
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A staggering 232 Prem games have been missed by players at English clubs in Europe, while the Three Lions lost EIGHT to injury for this week’s Nations League clashes with Greece and Ireland.
Molango said: “Players have been talking for a long time about the impact of the football calendar and fans can see it for themselves when they look at the number of players injured.
“Nobody should want major competitions to just come down to who can get their players out on the pitch.”
England’s lengthy injury list has added to worries that the demands on top stars are getting worse — and could end up being crucial in the title race.
Interim boss Lee Carsley is without Gunners’ Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka and Manchester City duo Phil Foden and Jack Grealish.
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill, Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and Southampton keeper Aaron Ramsdale all pulled out.
John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw and Eberechi Eze were previously ruled out through injury.
And that is BEFORE the ramifications of this year’s final international break, two more rounds of European games, the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and a packed league programme.
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That run could mean up to 13 matches in seven weeks for players up to January 1.
City boss Pep Guardiola has seen Rodri KO’d for the campaign, not seen Oscar Bobb all season and spoken of his concerns for Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake and Foden. He admits his side’s title hopes are under threat from the injuries.
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And even after the Prem is decided City, along with Chelsea, will be playing in next summer’s expanded Fifa Club World Cup.
But City, whose players have missed 42 games between them in the Prem, are not alone in sparking player welfare fears.
Across Manchester, Erik ten Hag’s pre-sacking complaints about his injury misfortune had some validity.
United players, including both his left-backs Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, have missed 57 matches so far.
Incoming Ruben Amorim may be able to change the mood but he cannot wave a magic wand to bring those two, Maguire or Mainoo back any quicker than their bodies can heal.
Injuries are part and parcel of football. Always have been, always will be.
But as PFA chief Maheta Molango points out, extra demands on the biggest stars, with the fixture list becoming increasingly packed and this summer’s 32-team Club World Cup for City and Chelsea, the outcome is almost inevitable.
Molango said: “It’s important to be able to back that up with numbers and evidence, so we can make the case for things like proper rest periods and restrictions around the frequency of games.
“The No 1 principle behind the way we structure the calendar has got to be a proper understanding of the physical limits of the players.
“We always say that this is not just a player issue but a football issue.
“Fans are paying to see the best players competing for the biggest prizes, but that can’t happen if they are constantly injured.
“It also has a knock-on impact, as it means even more workload on those who can play.
“They are then pushed beyond their limits and put at greater risk of injury themselves. It’s a vicious cycle.”
Molango’s argument holds water. While clubs have 25-man squads, even the biggest and best have a core of players who the manager knows he can rely on. If any of those are injured for a long spell, it means more minutes for the remaining key players.
And that, inevitably, means those players are even more likely to pick up knocks, pulls, strains and other wear and tear injuries.
Chelsea’s improvement under Enzo Maresca is doubtless due to hard work on the training ground.
But it is helped by the fact that his players have missed only 15 games.
Seven of those are accounted for by Reece James.
Liverpool have been without Alisson for a month and Diogo Jota for the past few games, while Alexander-Arnold has pulled out of England duty with a hamstring problem.
Arsenal’s recent drop-off coincided with injuries to Saka, Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White on top of the extended absence of skipper Martin Odegaard.
The injury pattern has been getting worse in recent years.
In their latest European Football Injury Index, insurers Howden totted up that Prem clubs paid £266million in wages last season to players who were not available for selection through injury, with United top of the crocks.
Critically, the average length of absence for an injured Premier League player has almost doubled, from 15 days to four weeks, since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Howden had already anticipated “a continuation of this upwards trajectory” and that “the squad depth of clubs will continue to be tested”.
Even more so in the period after international players return from the various corners of Europe and the world next week.
Unsurprisingly, given that clubs can play more than a sixth of their entire Prem programme in the four weeks of December, it is also the month Howden’s statistics found that most injuries are accrued.
Part of it, too, is about the style of play of a number of coaches.
Even in the Championship, where European football is the thing that takes place when they are facing another of the seemingly endless midweek fixture lists, front-foot chiefs can suffer the consequences.
Norwich, who switched from a more patient style under former boss David Wagner after the arrival of Johannes Hoff Thorup, had EIGHT stars out as they lost at home to Bristol City on Saturday.
But it is at the top end that it really shows.
Molango’s argument that “nobody should want major competitions to just come down to who can get their players out on the pitch” is more than valid.
Yet it might well be that which determines the destination of the Premier League crown.
The medical staff could be the most important members of every club’s backroom team.