As the season comes down to its last several weeks, the fight for a Champions League spot has heated up and there are multiple teams still in contention.
While Manchester City looks to be in prime contention for at least a spot, their 2nd place standing is in danger with Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Everton closing fast. After a big win over Arsenal on Sunday, Tottenham sits just five points behind City now, but just two points above Chelsea. Spurs have been on a tear lately and with Jermaine Defoe back in the squad and Gareth Bale playing out of his mind, they looked to be a formidable force for the remainder of the season. Unfortunately, during a pretty physical match against Arsenal this weekend, Spurs suffered a blow as both Moussa Dembele and Emmanuel Adebayor were forced to leave the pitch due to injury.
Tottenham were already missing Clint Dempsey due to a calf injury, and because both Adebayor and Dembele looked to have sustained rather serious injuries, Spurs fans were visibly worried. Dembele looked to have hurt his knee pretty badly, while Adebayor had to be stretchered off after what looked to be a sprained ankle.
Luckily, the Guardian’s Daniel Taylor reported that neither Dembele nor Adebayor should miss any time and that the injuries weren’t as bad as first thought.
Over in Manchester, league-leading United saw their best player back in action as Robin van Persie proved that last week’s injury was just a minor knock as he got the start and gave Red Devil fans a little boost looking towards this weeks Champions League play.
For the other Manchester team it was continued bad news as captain and center back Vincent Kompany missed yet another match with an injured calf. City survived against 18th place Aston Villa on Monday, but with such a tight race for a spot in next year’s Champions League, his absence could prove devastating with such important matches to come.
Daniel Sturridge missed Liverpool’s 4-0 drubbing of Wigan on Saturday, but is expected to return within a week, which is very important for a team still within reach of a tournament spot for next year.
Newcastle continues to struggle with injuries as key players Hatem Ben Arfa, Tim Krul, Fabricio Coloccini, and Ryan Taylor remain sidelined with injury while the team barely stays above the relegation zone.
Let’s take a look at the complete EPL Injury Report
Courtesy of Physio Room: Player/Injury/Expected Return
Manchester United
Phil Jones/Ankle/Unknown
Rio Ferdinand/Illness/Unknown
Paul Scholes/Knee Injury/March 2nd
Darren Fletcher/Chronic Bowel Syndrome/Unknown
Arsenal
Kieran Gibbs/Thigh Strain/Unknown
V. Diaby/Calf/March 13th
B. Sagna/Knee/March 13th
Manchester City
Vincent Kompany/Calf/Unknown
Maicon/Knee/Unknown
Micah Richards/Knee/March 4th
Tottenham
T. Huddlestone/Knee/Unknown
S. Ranieri/ACL/October 13th
Moussa Dembele/Knee/March 7th
Emmanuel Adebayor/Ankle/March 7th
Clint Dempsey/Calf/March 10th
Newcastle
Hatem Ben Arfa/Hamstring/March 2nd
H. Vuckic/ACL/May 13th
Ryan Taylor/ACL/March 29th
Tim Krul/Ankle/Unknown
S. Harper/Knee/Unknown
Fabricio Coloccini/Back/Unknown
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