A Christmas Break in the Premier League?

By Ed Valentine and John Considine

Should there be a Christmas break in the Premier League?  The data on the reported injuries for 5 Premier League clubs suggests that some consideration should be given to the issue.  The clubs used in the chart below are the two Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.  The chart shows the number of injuries reported over the previous seven days.  For example, the number for March 7th is the injuries reported for the days between March 1st and March 7th.

The only seven day period with more than 10 reported injuries is the week between Christmas Day (December 25th) and New Years Day (January 1st).  This might suggest there should be a Christmas break.  The volume of games probably contributes to the increase in injuries.

The chart below also seems to suggest that there are slightly less injuries between January and April compared to between September and December.  June is the month with the lowest activity (training or games) and has the lowest reports number of injuries.

In a previous post Ed Valentine examined the type of injuries over the period 2002 to 2014 (here).  The post documented how ankle, hamstring, thigh, and knee injuries were the most prevalent.  The chart below shows the distribution of injuries reported for the period from December 24th to January 1st.  It groups together the injuries listed as flu, virus, and illness.  This group now is the second most prevalent for the Christmas week period.  The distribution of injuries is not that surprising given the time of the year.