Liverpool’s success in the past couple of years has been based on the speed the team moves the ball and the ground its players cover. The number of games the team is playing this season with little recovery time between has resulted in a brutal injury list. Van Dijk was hurt by an impact injury; a result of a rather reckless challenge from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The paper explains that between 2006/2007 and 2012/2013 match running distances in the English Premier League increased by 20%, a 3% per year rise. Fortunately, the ever-increasing budgets of Premier League teams have enabled them to invest in the infrastructure to support this transformation.

Source: Forbes November 20, 2020 17:25 UTC