Tiredness and injuries were always possible for players at a World Cup held in the middle of the season due to its gruelling schedule. Leaders Gabriel Jesus, a striker for Brazil, suffered a catastrophic knee injury and may miss the rest of the season. His absence may have the greatest impact on Arsenal.
After a promising start to his tenure with the Gunners, he will likely not return to action until late February. This is despite his good play, in which he failed to score in any of the six league games he played before the break. On the other hand, Manchester City had the fewest injuries despite having the most players (16) at the World Cup.
The impact of the World Cup on the Premier League
Almost all of their representatives were eliminated by the quarterfinals. Only Julian Alvarez of Argentina advanced to the semifinals in Qatar. In addition, Erling Haaland has scored 18 goals in 13 games. He leads the Premier League in that category and has had five weeks off to recharge and prepare for his return.
On 17 December, the Norwegian striker made his first appearance for City since the loss to Brentford in November. He scored in a 2-0 friendly win over Girona, which also featured a goal from Kevin de Bruyne of Belgium. There will be an intense focus on which injured players from before the World Cup will be available to play.
While Chelsea’s Reece James and Wesley Fofana, Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin are all close to returning. Liverpool’s Luis Diaz underwent knee surgery and will be out for another three months.
Matches will now be played regularly so that all fixtures may be met promptly, despite the World Cup interrupting the domestic season. There will be five English Premier League games between now and the end of January.
All these events occurred after the 20-22nd of December when the fourth round of the Carabao Cup was played, and some clubs were involved. In addition, the third round of the FA Cup will be played from January 6-9. W the return to European activity for some teams is coming around the middle of February.
