Insider suggests triple new Liverpool injury blow as ‘huge’ news confirmed
The Liverpool squad are at risk of picking up muscle and soft tissue injuries as well as suffering from fatigue because their festive schedule is particularly busy.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Liverpool confirmed earlier this week (24 October) that three of their games after Christmas had been rearranged meaning they face three games in seven days starting on Boxing Day.
Along with Man United, they have the tightest turnaround with Tottenham having an extra 55 hours to play their three games.
“The festive fixture always usually arrives with a huge fanfare of managers complaining about the lack of recovery time,” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“Optimally you are going to want something between 48 and 72 hours of recovery for those players. Anything less than that, it becomes a worry and a concern.
“We have seen this happen previously. There have been examples of teams playing games with a 44 hour turnaround. When you talk about those timelines players are at risk of muscle injuries, soft tissue and fatigue being the biggest risk factor associated with that.
“We are now dealing with bigger squads. We hear the managers moaning and saying ‘The schedule kills my players’. Ultimately, you are well aware of these scheduling issues far in advance and you have the strength in depth to mitigate the risks to an extent.
“Clubs are a lot more proactive in terms of recruitment and do focus on this period now.
“Do we see more injuries in that Christmas period? Yes, we do. That’s because players are playing more minutes and with increased exposure, you will have more.
“The concern with that World Cup and players returning into that heavy congestion period is towards the back of January, into February.
“We see players patched up and pushed through that busy period. Once you’re through that, that’s where we see players go down.”
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