Everton FC: Premier League injury analysis by Cute Injury

One of the the most talked about and discussed injuries in day to day life are those suffered by professional footballers.

Injuries to our teams players can have serious repercussions to how the team performs on a given match day, and can even affect an entire season.

Because of this, football fans are well versed in the terminology of injuries – from broken metatarsals and cruciate ligaments to hamstring strains and concussion.

Here at Cute Injury we have spent a lot of time researching all the injuries sustained by Premier League players over the past five seasons, in order to better understand what injuries are suffered, how and when they happen and to identify any other interesting patterns.

Below is our detailed analysis of the injuries suffered to Everton players over the past five seasons – from the 2009/10 season through to the 2013/14 season.

Everton injury record – key findings

In total over the past five seasons, Everton’s players have suffered a total of 164 different injuries which have caused them to miss matches.

That’s an average of just under 33 injuries every season – nearly one for every Premier League game. By comparison, Everton’s local rivals Liverpool had just 110 injuries over the same period, averaging at 22 injuries per season.

Below is a breakdown of the amount of injuries suffered by Everton’s playing staff for each of the past five seasons:

As the above graph shows, the 2009/10 season was particularly bad for Everton in terms of injuries. In that season, no fewer than 21 different Everton players missed at least one Premier League game due to injury.

Total lost playing time – 251.5 months

All of the different injuries to Everton’s players over the past five seasons adds up to a total of251.5 months of lost playing time – which is just under 21 years.

To put that another way, over the past five seasons Everton players have spent as much time on the treatment table as midfielder Ross Barkley has been alive!

Everton player out for the longest

Former striker Victor Anichebe holds the dubious distinction as the Everton player to have been out injured for the longest time over the past five seasons – despite moving to West Brom at the beginning of the 2013/14 season.

Anichebe clocked up a total of 18.5 months out injured, thanks to a succession of knee, groin and hamstring problems.

Defender and club stalwart Tony Hibbert comes in a close second with a total of 17 months out injured in the past five seasons – due to lots of small injuries and a long lay-off during the 2012/13 season thanks to a calf injury.

Everton player with the most injuries

Former midfielder Jack Rodwell leads the way in terms of racking up the most individual injuries. Rodwell, who left for Manchester City in August 2012, sustained 11 different injuries in just three seasons.

In that time Rodwell was unavailable for games after suffering: 5 hamstring injuries, 2 ankle injuries, 2 groin injuries, a knee injury and a virus.

Victor Anichebe, Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman all come second after clocking up 10 separate injuries each over the past five seasons.

Position with the most injuries

There’s not much between Everton’s defenders and midfielders when we look at which position gets the most injuries.

Their defenders suffered a total of 62 different injuries over the past five seasons – over 12 each season – while their midfielders suffered a total of 60.

Most common type of injury

Hamstring injuries are the most common type of injury suffered by Everton’s players, with 37 separate hamstring injuries over the past five seasons.

Knee injuries are the second most common, with 35, followed by groin injuries (23) and thigh injuries (13):

Most common injury per position

Goalkeepers

There were only two notable injuries suffered by goalies in the past five seasons – an ankle and back injury (both to Tim Howard).

Defenders

Everton’s defenders are most susceptible to hamstring injuries, suffering 19 of them over the past five seasons – 30.6% of all injuries to defenders.

Midfielders

The Toffee’s midfielders are more likely to suffer knee injuries, with 15 separate knee injuries causing midfielders to lose games over the past five seasons – which is 25% of all injuries sustained by midfielders.

Forwards

Knee injuries are also the most common type of injury for Everton’s forwards. 11 separate knee injuries were recorded over the past five seasons – 27.5% of all injuries suffered by the forwards.

Most serious injury

The injury that led to the most time out injured for Everton players over the past five seasons was knee injuries, which all added up to a massive 90.5 months of lost playing time – that’s over 7.5 years of accumulated time spent out because of knee injuries!

Most common time of injury

Statistically speaking, Everton’s players seem to be most likely to suffer an injury in September or October – so the early part of the season is the most dangerous for them:

You can download the data and view the full report here: http://www.cuteinjury.co.uk/everton-fc-premier-league-injury-analysis/