Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa — conceded with what amounted to the final kick at Villa Park — was a painful blow, and Manchester City’s win trimmed the Gunners’ lead to two points. Despite the loss, Arsenal sit top of the Premier League and top of their Champions League group, having won all five of their European fixtures. Their overall record this season is still strong: 17 wins from 22, three draws and two defeats. However, an 18-game unbeaten run — the joint-longest in Europe this season — came to an end at Villa.
A persistent problem, though, is re-emerging: injuries. Across this season and last Arsenal have recorded 93 injuries. This campaign alone they have already had 26 separate injuries — only Leeds have reported more among Premier League clubs — and four players are currently sidelined, including three centre-backs (William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães and Cristhian Mosquera) and Kai Havertz.
A long list of first-team regulars have missed time: Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Viktor Gyökeres, Noni Madueke, Christian Nørgaard and Piero Hincapié have all had spells out, some with repeated setbacks. In total 14 senior players have been injured this season — more than half the 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 only Arsenal and Brighton top 90 injuries.
The scale and clustering of absences invite questions over medical and training practices, but assigning clear blame is difficult. Load management and injury prevention are complex and multifactorial. Some hamstring problems last season pointed to overuse among certain players, and Arteta has acknowledged some issues were beyond his control. The wider game is also relevant: hamstring injuries have risen generally as fixtures intensify and schedules become busier, and some injuries are simply down to misfortune, such as awkward landings.
Arsenal’s summer recruitment — eight signings costing around £267m — was intended to deepen the squad, but that depth is already being tested by how absences have clustered. Last season the forwards were particularly affected: Havertz suffered a torn hamstring in February after Jesus had already missed time, and right-back was disrupted by injuries to Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White, which increased the burden on Jurrien Timber, who later required ankle surgery in May.
This season similar patterns have emerged. Havertz’s early injury left Viktor Gyökeres with extra responsibility; Gyökeres then picked up a groin problem, and Mikel Merino was asked to lead the line, starting seven consecutive matches and showing signs of fatigue. The centre-back area has been hit hardest: losing Gabriel, Saliba and Mosquera within weeks removed the possibility of normal rotation, forced Timber to shift from full-back, and complicated the reintroduction of Hincapié after his own groin issue. Arsenal named their sixth different centre-back pairing of the season for the Villa game.
The defensive disruption has had measurable consequences. Since Gabriel’s injury on international duty the team have conceded in four of five matches, having conceded in only four of the previous 17. At Villa they allowed chances worth 2.16 expected goals — nearly a quarter of their season total to that point — highlighting an unusual vulnerability.
The timing is unfortunate: a congested run of fixtures, including Spurs and Bayern Munich at home and Chelsea and Villa away, has increased the toll. That makes rotation and energy management crucial as Arsenal navigate a Champions League tie against Club Brugge and an upcoming Premier League trip to Wolves. With 15 points taken from their first five European group matches — and knowing 16 points was enough to finish in the top eight of a group last season — there is some scope to rotate.
There are tentative positives: Saliba was said to be only days from fitness before the Villa match, and Arteta has indicated Gabriel and Havertz might return soon. After the Wolves game Arsenal enjoy a rare free midweek before travelling to Everton — a small window to reset and try to curb what has felt like an unsustainable injury rate.