Manchester City is already four points clear at the top of the table after beginning the 2015 Premier League season with five straight wins. Meanwhile, Manchester United and Arsenal are in familiar positions and Chelsea is in trouble. It’s amazing that through only five games, the table has already really started to take shape. Injuries have played a part in that as several key contributors have been banged up in the month September.
Here are the four biggest ones to note so far in the EPL season:
Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea
As if being outscored 5-2 in consecutive losses to Crystal Palace and Everton isn’t bad enough, the Blues now have to deal with the loss of their star goalkeeper Courtois after he was forced to undergo surgery on his right knee. This comes after he suffered a brutal injury. Courtois is expected to be out until January and that is one more issue that Jose Mourinho’s side will have to overcome as they look to turn things. After winning it all in the EPL last season, they’ve endured a terrible start. Mourinho has said that he is happy with the options he has on his roster at the position with Asmir Begovic and Jamal Blackman – both capable of holding down the starting job – but there have been rumors of a potential emergency transfer to acquire the former Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes from Manchester United. The fact that there are rumors shows that Mourinho is not happy with his current options. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Chelsea made a move to address the position.
Wayne Rooney, Manchester United
United finally put together a strong offensive performance in its 3-1 win over Liverpool. Anthony Martial scored an impressive goal in his club debut but they won that game without their star striker Rooney and they could be without him for at least a couple of weeks due to a hamstring injury. The 29-year-old suffered a hamstring sprain in practice and Louis van Gaal conceded that they won’t risk him further injuring himself in either Premier League or Champions League action over the next couple of weeks. The fact that United produced its best offensive effort of the season without Rooney is definitely a positive sign but make no mistakes about it. Any long term loss of Rooney would have a negative impact on the club.
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Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
Aguero was injured in City’s win over Crystal Palace and all that is known right now is that he won’t play this week against Juventus in the Champions League. Beyond that, there is no official word on how long he will be out. Aguero mentioned after the game against Crystal Palace that he isn’t likely to miss an extended amount of time but anytime a star striker of his caliber goes down, it’s important. City has some capable replacements ready to step in with David Silva and Raheem Sterling but they have to hope Aguero will be back soon with designs on both Premier League and Champions League titles this season.
Ryan Mason, Tottenham
Spurs is off to a slow start to the Premier League season. They looked relatively average for the majority of their game against Sunderland before Ryan Mason delivered what would stand as the game-winner and lone goal in a 1-0 win. It is about time that Tottenham finally got on the board with its first win of the year but it didn’t come without a devastating loss as well as Mason was forced from the game on a stretcher with a knee injury on that very play. There has been no official word from the team after Mason was to be assessed by doctors early on in the week. However, it looked like a significant injury and if he is out long-term as expected, it’s a major blow for Spurs.
