The manner of Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa — conceded with effectively the last kick at Villa Park — made the result particularly painful for Mikel Arteta’s side, and Manchester City’s subsequent win narrowed their lead to two points. Arsenal remain top of the Premier League and top of their Champions League group, having won five from five in Europe, and their wider season record still stands at 17 wins from 22, three draws and two defeats. Their 18-game unbeaten run, the joint-longest in Europe this season, ended with the Villa loss.
But a familiar problem is beginning to bite: injuries. Across this season and last, Arsenal have recorded 93 injuries. This term alone they have had 26 injuries so far — only Leeds have more among Premier League clubs — leaving four players on the current absentee list, including three centre-backs (William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera) and Kai Havertz.
A large group of first-team players have missed time: Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Christian Norgaard and Piero Hincapie have all had spells sidelined, some with multiple setbacks. In total 14 players have been injured this season — more than half the senior squad — and only a handful have managed sustained fitness. Last season Arsenal were second in the injury table with 67 injuries, behind Brighton; over the two-season span Arsenal and Brighton are the only sides to exceed 90 injuries.
That scale of absence inevitably invites scrutiny of Arsenal’s medical and training practices. From the outside it is hard to apportion blame definitively: load management and injury prevention are complex. Some hamstring injuries last season suggested overwork for certain players, and Arteta has said some issues were “out of his control.” The broader footballing context matters too — hamstring problems have risen across the game as matches become more intense and schedules more crowded — and some injuries are simply bad luck, such as awkward landings.
Arsenal’s summer recruitment — eight signings costing around £267m — has given Arteta a deeper squad than last season, but that depth is already being tested by the pattern and timing of absences. Injuries have tended to cluster by position, compounding their effect. Last season the forward line was hit hard: Havertz tore his hamstring in February after Jesus’s earlier absence left him shouldering most of the striking burden. Right-back was another problem area, with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White’s injuries increasing the load on Jurrien Timber, who required ankle surgery in May.
This season similar clusters have emerged. Havertz’s early-season injury left Viktor Gyokeres with extra load; Gyokeres then injured his groin, and Mikel Merino was asked to lead the line, starting seven consecutive games in a crowded month and showing fatigue as a result. At centre-back the impact has been stark: losing Gabriel, Saliba and Mosquera within weeks made rotation impossible, forced Timber to shift across from full-back, and limited the opportunity to reintroduce Hincapie after his own groin problem. Arsenal started Saturday’s defeat at Villa with their sixth different centre-back pairing of the season.
The defensive disruption has had measurable effects. Since Gabriel’s injury on international duty, Arsenal have conceded in four of five games — having conceded in only four of 17 matches previously — and at Villa they allowed chances worth 2.16 expected goals, nearly 25% of their season total to that point, underlining an unusual vulnerability.
The timing has been unfortunate: a demanding run of fixtures — Spurs and Bayern Munich at home, Chelsea and Villa away — came in quick succession and has taken a toll. That makes rotation and energy conservation crucial, starting with Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Club Brugge and prioritising the upcoming Premier League trip to Wolves. With 15 points taken from their first five league phase games in Europe, and knowing 16 points was enough for a top-eight exit last season, there is some scope for rotation.
There are signs some players could return: Saliba was described as “days” from fitness prior to the Villa game, and Arteta has suggested Gabriel and Havertz might be back in contention soon. After the Wolves match Arsenal have a rare free midweek before their trip to Everton — a window to reset and attempt to arrest what has looked like an unsustainable rate of injuries.