Liverpool: Premier League Injury Analysis – 09/10 – 13/14
As part of our review of all the injuries suffered by Premier League teams over the past five seasons (2009/10 – 2013/14) we now come to Liverpool FC.
Liverpool injury record – key findings
In total over the past five seasons Liverpool have suffered 110 different injuries.
That averages out at 22 injuries each season, and over 2 every month (of a standard 9 month season).
Here’s the total number of injuries for each of the past five seasons:
As you can see, Liverpool tend to have a consistent number of injuries each season – with the number ranging from 18 (in the 2011/12 season) and 28 (in the 2009/10 season).
Total lost playing time – 201.5 months
All of the injuries suffered by Liverpool players over the past five seasons amount to a total lost potential playing time of 201.5 months.
That adds up to just under 17 years worth of players on the treatment table.
To put it another way, every season Liverpool players are out injured for a combined average of 3.4 years!
Player out for the longest
Thanks mostly to a serious knee injury sustained in September 2013, young full-back Martin Kelly gets the unwanted distinction as the Liverpool player out injured for the longest total time over the past five seasons.
That knee injury in 2013 kept Kelly out for almost an entire year, and his total time out injured adds up to a full 22 months – almost two whole years.
Danish centre-back Daniel Agger runs Kelly a close second, clocking up a total of 19 months out injured over the past five seasons.
Midfielders Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva come in joint third place with 15 months out injured each.
Player with the most injuries
Daniel Agger suffered the most individual injuries over the course of the last five seasons – getting injured a 11 different times. That’s just over 2 injuries per season.
The most serious injury Agger suffered was a knee injury back in March 2011 which kept him out for 5 months. He’s also suffered several back injuries, a couple of calf injuries, a foot injury and an injury to the ribs:
Position with the most injuries
According to the data from the past five seasons, Liverpool’s defenders are the most likely to suffer an injury. Collectively defenders suffered a total of 55 different injuries over the past five seasons – 11 each season. Midfielders are the second most injury prone, clocking up 32 injuries. Liverpool’s forwards suffered a total of 20 injuries over the five seasons, and goalkeepers just 3 separate injuries:
Most common type of injury
Liverpool players are most susceptible to hamstring injuries – with 23 different hamstring injuries sustained in the past five seasons. An average of just under 5 every season.
Knee injuries are the second most common injury with 21, followed by ankle injuries (16), calf injuries (10) and thigh injuries (9):
Most common injury per position
Goalkeepers
There has only been 3 different injuries to goalies over the past five seasons – Brad Jones suffered a shoulder injury and Pepe Reina suffered a calf and hamstring injury.
Defenders
Knee injuries are the most common for Liverpool’s defenders, with 13 separate knee injuries sustained by them in the past five seasons.
Midfielders
Liverpool’s midfielders are most likely to suffer a hamstring injury – with 9 sustained in the past five seasons by midfielders.
Forwards
For the forwards, the most common injuries are ankle and thigh injuries, with 4 of each suffered since the start of the 2009/10 season.
Most serious injury
Knee injuries are by far the most serious of all injuries suffered by Liverpool players – accounting for a total of 73.5 months, or just over 6 years, of lost playing time!
In comparison the second most serious – hamstring injuries – accounted for 29 months of player absence:
Most common time of injury
October tends to be the ‘danger month’ for Liverpool in terms of injuries sustained – with 16 reported in October over the past five seasons, over 3 new injuries every October!
All data courtesy CuteInjury.co.uk