There’s only a few days left until the start of the new Premier League season, but Man United and Newcastle are again amongst the teams that have multiple injury concerns.
A ball hasn’t even been kicked yet, but as Premier Injuries note, both the Red Devils and the Magpies are likely to have seven players missing.
Given that both clubs struggled with keeping players fit throughout the 2023/24 campaign, one has to question whether something is inherently wrong behind the scenes.
Who is to blame for injuries to so many Premier League players?
Are the training regimes to blame? Are the players just brittle? Or are the medical teams to blame?
Whatever the answer is, clearly the likes of Erik ten Hag and Eddie Howe want their squads back to their full complement as soon as possible.
They’re by no means the worst off out of the Premier League teams, however.
Everton also have seven players out, whilst Brighton and Hove Albion are missing eight, and Brentford top this particular table with nine players out.
Nottingham Forest and Fulham are the only two teams with a completely clean bill of health, with Chelsea, Southampton and West Ham United only missing a player each.
A sliding scale upwards from those three sees the likes of Liverpool not able to call upon the services of four of their first team stars this weekend, by way of another example.
From each club’s point of view, they won’t want to be dogged by injuries from the first whistle as if that translates to results not going their way on the pitch, they’ll already be playing catch up from the get go.
Managers live and die by the results of their teams, and even if there’s a legitimate excuse as to why they might not be at the races that’s not going to go down well with owners – particularly those that might have spent well across the summer.