The challenge from the 'storm' of injuries

The season has passed its warm-up phase, and now it's time for Premier League teams to grapple with the problems of injury-related squad issues.

Both Chelsea (left) and Liverpool are sidelined with injuries - Photo: REUTERS

On the evening of October 18th, Chelsea will kick off the eighth round of the Premier League with a challenging away match against Nottingham Forest.

Decline due to change of coach

Nottingham Forest – last season's "dark horse" – has fallen from grace following the "madness" of its flamboyant chairman, Evangelos Marinakis. The Greek billionaire unexpectedly sacked manager Nuno Santo, who had led the team to success, and appointed Angie Postecoglou, who brought a very different football philosophy. As a result, Nottingham Forest has suffered a disastrous decline.

Before sacking manager Nuno Santo, Nottingham Forest had lost only one game this season (after three rounds). And since manager Postecoglou arrived, they have lost three and drawn one of their next four matches. From being a "dark horse," this historically rich club has now become a potential candidate for relegation.

But no matter how bad Nottingham Forest are, Chelsea fans can't afford to be complacent at this point.

Chelsea are worried about injuries in their defense.

The English team enjoyed two weeks of success with a dramatic and spectacular victory against Liverpool in Round 7, just before the FIFA Days.

But it was also a hard-fought victory for Chelsea, as they were left without a single central defender for the final minutes of the match. The reason? They were all injured, despite Chelsea having six central defenders available at the start of the season.

After the match, Chelsea fans received some positive news, as Badiashile and Acheampong only suffered minor injuries, while Chalobah will return after serving his suspension.

Even so, Chelsea's list of absentees still numbers 6-7, with Palmer, Tosin, Essugo, and Delap still out, and Colwill and Fofana confirmed to be out for an extended period. Even Enzo Fernandez, who is currently playing in Palmer's position, is showing signs of instability.

Chelsea are facing a wave of injuries, and things could get even worse in the coming weeks as they stretch themselves thin across multiple competitions.

Arsenal and Liverpool struggle with World Cup qualifiers.

Not only Chelsea, but Arsenal are also extremely worried as their attacking line has been receiving a series of bad news recently. After Madueke, Odegaard has confirmed he has suffered a serious injury and will be out until the end of October.

Arsenal had previously lost Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz to long-term injuries. Despite having a fairly deep squad, the constant loss of players in each matchday is undoubtedly a nightmare for Arsenal fans.

Even Liverpool, a team that has had relatively few injuries over the past year, is starting to face problems. In the last month, the "Reds" have received a series of bad news regarding their squad.

They lost Leoni – a reserve center-back for the rest of the season – then Alisson and Endo before the FIFA Days. And when they joined their national teams, Konate and Gravenberch also suffered injuries.

This is an inevitable consequence of the increasingly packed schedule, with the World Cup qualifiers entering their final stages. Key players for big clubs are often also key players for their national teams. Take Van Dijk, for example – at 34 years old, he has played every minute in his seven appearances over the past month.

And if we count from the beginning of the season, Van Dijk has played all 14 matches in just two months. The Dutch center-back only had about two and a half days between matches to rest, recover, and train. And remember, he previously suffered a torn ligament injury.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thach-thuc-tu-bao-chan-thuong-20251018102621954.htm