Sep 27, 2023
The football season is on, and after the first international break, enters the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. There is barely time to catch a break, for the big teams participating in domestic and European competitions. This is where squad depth, size and talent come into the picture. Teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the likes have over the years been able to cope. For the teams that aren’t among the elites, this is normally their time to take advantage. Taking part in all these competitions means one thing – the grueling nature of the fights out there usually end up with one or two players injured. That is why there is always the insistence of starting strong, when the players are still fit and fresh. When the injury bug strikes, at times it feels like the universe conspiring. Targets fail, hopes crash and it is all tears in the end.\
Injuries reported
For a number of Premier League teams, after the international break, a number of injuries have been reported. These will not only affect the injured players’ teams’ ambitions; even the content of today’s football results and livescores on Wincomparator will be significantly altered. For example, Manchester City are tipped to successfully defend their league and European titles this season. That is however already facing headwinds with a number of their creative players out with injury. As they started their Champions League title defence, Bernardo Silva limped out before half time. That turn of events left City without Kevin De Bruyne, Matteo Kovacic, Jack Grelish and John Stones to add to Bernardo Silva. However, loaded their squad is, City are definitely going to feel the pressure in their title chase. Playing in four different competitions and almost the full squad expecting national team call ups in October won’t help. Keep in mind that City had only eight subs on the bench in the Tuesday game, and two were goalkeepers.
Serious challenge
As per last season’s numbers, Arsenal are the ones expected to seriously challenge Manchester City for the league title. However, the Gunners are already shackled with injuries to key players, even as they go into the Champions League after a six-year hiatus. The Gunners lost one of their top signings Jurrien Timber in the very first game of the season. The fact that he is set to be out for a lengthy period means reorganization of their plans. Timber was soon after joined by Thomas Partey, another regular at Arsenal, and now they are also set to be without Gabriel Martinelli, who has started all their matches so far. While they aren’t hitting the panic button yet, when burnout and fixture pile-up become real issues, their season ambitions will take a hit. Injuries are already taking a toll on Manchester United, with their issues exacerbated by off-field occurrences as well. Thin options in defence mean one of their top signings, goalkeeper Andre Onana is made to look really ordinary. It is five matches into the league season, and most pundits and fans are already ruling United out of the title race. A keener look would show all this is down to injuries to key players.