Arsenal's Premier League title charge took a huge nosedive after defender William Saliba picked up a lower back injury a little over six weeks ago.
The Gunners were sitting pretty at the top of the table, five points clear of second-placed Manchester City with the same number of games played. Mikel Arteta's side then picked up just nine points from a possible 18 in the six games without Saliba, conceding a whopping 13 goals in the process as their title charge appeared to collapse in the absence of the Frenchman.
This all came shortly after Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag bizarrely claimed that the north Londoners, who are now just two points ahead of City having played twice more than their title rivals, were lucky with injuries. "Only in one game could I say, ok I can pick my team, also from a tactical approach, that was perfect," the Dutchman said the day before Saliba was forced off against Sporting CP due to injury.
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"That was against Man City at home. And that was the only time in this season. In other times, in every game, it was one player suspended, one player is injured or [has] illness, so we have to deal with it well but of course you hope, like I see with Arsenal, that they almost have all the time their squad available."
Now, a study from Casinoarabi.io has revealed that Arsenal are the sixth most unlucky team in the Premier League when it comes to the number of games their players have missed from injuries, only behind Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Everton. Meanwhile, City rank as the sixth luckiest team, with their players missing less than half the number of games combined compared to the Gunners.
The full list is as follows: (Team) - (Combined total number of games players have missed due to Injury).
1. Liverpool - 151
2. Chelsea - 137
3. Manchester United - 133
4. Nottingham Forest - 115
5. Everton - 86
6. Arsenal - 81
7. Fulham - 76
8. Wolves - 76
9. Newcastle United - 74
10. Tottenham Hotspur - 70
11. Leicester City - 69
12. Bournemouth - 55
13. Aston Villa - 50
14. Southampton - 47
15. Manchester City - 37
16. Brentford - 26
17. Brighton - 22
18. West Ham - 22
19. Leeds - 13
20. Crystal Palace - 8
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