Everton have had more injuries than any other side in the Premier League as the problems continued to mount for Frank Lampard ahead of his side's trip to face Burnley on Wednesday evening.
Ahead of the Blues' recent 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, Donny van de Beek pulled out of the warm-up with a thigh issue that will keep him out of the away match at the Clarets. It was also confirmed that Nathan Patterson, who rolled his ankle the day before the visit to the London Stadium last weekend, would require surgery and could miss between eight and ten weeks.
Those latest issues can be added to Yerry Mina, Andros Townsend and Tom Davies, who remain sidelined with long-term issues - with Andre Gomes also missing his side's last match with a knock. Everton will, though, be able to welcome back Seamus Coleman and Fabian Delph to the squad to face Sean Dyche's side after they were absent against the Hammers.
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Injuries are something that Everton have had to deal with throughout the course of the campaign, with multiple players suffering long-term problems which some are still finding full fitness from. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Richarlison, Ben Godfrey and more have missed significant chunks of the campaign.
And, new research dissecting the situation across the Premier League has detailed that Everton have in fact suffered from these issues more than anyone else. Ben Dinnery took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon to share a spreadsheet detailing the amount of injuries each side have dealt with in the Premier League across 2021/22,. and the days missed for each squad.
The Blues come out on top in the first instance, suffering a total of 34 injuries throughout the season as listed by that research. In terms of the total days missed by those problems, Lampard's side come out behind Leeds United with a total of 1,255 missed - with the Yorkshire club having their players absent for 1,284 days.
However, Everton once again come out on top when you consider the injuries per 1,000 minutes played in the Premier League with a rate of 10.4. Leeds United and Watford are joint-second in the division in that category with a figure of 10.1.
Injuries to key players in important positions of the squad have been a factor on multiple occasions for the Blues. New issues for Patterson and Van de Beek will only compound that for Lampard heading into a crucial game in the relegation battle on Wednesday evening against Burnley - with particularly options looking slim in midfield thanks to the added suspension for Allan to consider.
These constant problems might not be the sole reason that Everton find themselves in the dire position they are in towards the end of this campaign. However, it's hard to deny the important factor these largely unfortunate problems tend to have when they occur in such large quantities.
