With over 99 players injured this season, many have voiced their concerns as they claim fixtures congestion is responsible for Premier League’s growing injury list.
United’s left-back Luke Shaw is out until December while Phil Jones, who last featured in January, is still out of contention to play.
The injury problems aren’t only shared by Manchester United however as virtually every club in the Premier League has their fair share of injuries, with some better than others.
Ex-Liverpool player Dejan Lovren blames football scheduling for the worrying number of injuries this season.
The former Reds who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg reveals he’s had only eight days off football this year.
He made these comments following Joe Gomez’s injury at the international break; another player added to the long list of injuries.
Other football stars such as Toni Kroos, Raheem Sterling, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have also expressed disapproval of fixtures which they noted as the reason for Premier League’s growing injuries.
So, what exactly are the arguments?
Coronavirus plus Fixture list
It has been quite a year for everyone having to work and deal with the Coronavirus concurrently. For Premier League players, in particular, coping with the pandemic plus the tight footballing schedules has taken a toll on footballers.
This is evident in the number of injuries that have been sustained this season for both club and country football
No Five Substitution
A sect of the Premier League online community argues that reverting to the three-substitution rule is clubs own undoing.
Fans argue that clubs will be able to cope better with the tightly scheduled games if they operated with the five-sub rule. This, they argue, will help more players get game time while key players will get even more resting time between matches.
Ultimately, there will be another meeting between the EPL clubs to review their decision on the five-sub prospect. With the fully packed festive round of matches still to be played, it will come down to the clubs to protect the health and safety of their players.
