While there was a weekend off in the Premier League schedule, many English teams played anyway in the world’s oldest association football competition, the FA Cup. With the exception of Newcastle, who lost 0-2 to Brighton and Hove Albion, most Premiership teams beat up on the lower level competition, but many stars were missing in action. Teams like Manchester United and Chelsea saw key players miss FA Cup action this weekend due to injury, while others, like Tottenham, saw key players like Scott Parker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto return to the field from long-term injuries. The team most affected by injuries this weekend was Newcastle United, who was missing numerous starters and major contributors. Manager Alan Pardew told ITV1, “We are missing too many of our top players. That team (against Brighton) is a shadow of the team we can put out.”
The English Premier League season itself is a grind for players every week, but to add on FA Cup and other tournaments makes injuries inevitable. While this weekend’s action didn’t see many new major injuries, it did highlight many existing issues for many teams to deal with for the rest of the season.
Let’s take a look at some of the players that were absent this weekend: Courtesy of Physio Room
Player/Injury/Expected Return
Chelsea
John Terry/Knee/January 20th
Petr Cech/Groin and Pelvis/January 20th
Yossi Benayoun/Knee/Unknown
Oriol Romeu/ACL Knee/June 13th
Manchester United
Phil Jones/Knee/January 13th
Wayne Rooney/Knee/January 20th
Anderson/Hamstring/Unknown
Nani/Hamstring/January 20th
Manchester City
Sergio Aguero/Hamstring/Unknown
Maicon/Knee/Unknown
Aleksander Kolarov/Hip and Thigh/Unknown
Micah Richards/Knee Cartilage/Unknown
Jack Rodwell/Hamstring/Unknown
Newcastle
Papiss Cisse/Knock/January 12th
Fabricio Coloccini/Knock/January 12th
Danny Simpson/Broken Toe/January 19th
Jonas Gutierrez/Knee/January 12th
Hatem Ben Arfa/Hamstring/February 2nd
Steven Taylor/Hamstring/January 12th
Yohan Cabaye/Groin and Pelvis/January 12th
Ryan Taylor/ACL Knee/March 13th
Tottenham
William Gallas/Calf and Shin/Unkown
Younes Kaboul/Knee/Febraury 25th
Liverpool
Martin Kelly/ACL Knee/March
Fabio Borini/Ankle and Foot/January 13th
Jose Enrique/Hamstring/February 11th
Arsenal
V. Mannone/Illness/Unknown
Emmanuel Frimpong/Illness/Unknown
Andre Santos/Abdominal Strain/January 13th
Fabianski/Ankle/Unknown
Diaby/Thigh Strain/January 13th
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