"It's long been said that, over the course of a 38-game Premier League season, a team's luck will even out. As the old adage goes, "you play every team twice," and that's true, but refereeing decisions, injuries and managerial changes can each have a huge impact on a club's season -- either positively or negatively. So, with that in mind, we thought we'd take a nonscientific look at which Premier League teams have been favored by fortune or fallen foul of it."
"This is not about a couple of injuries. We're looking at situations where multiple star players were missing or entire position groups were out. After all, if you're lucky enough to play Chelsea without star player Cole Palmer, or catch Arsenal without Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard, then your experience of playing them will be very different to that of another team."
Refereeing decisions, injuries and managerial changes have significantly affected club fortunes during the opening 11 Premier League gameweeks. A nonscientific assessment separates luck into three categories: injury clusters, managerial changes and confirmed refereeing/VAR errors. Injury issues refer to multiple star players missing or entire position groups being out, which can dramatically change how opponents experience matches, with examples including Chelsea without Cole Palmer and Arsenal without Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard. Managerial changes can produce a 'new manager bounce' or make a team worse. Six confirmed refereeing/VAR errors have been identified and evaluated for winners and losers. Liverpool won their first five Premier League games on the spin.
Read at ESPN.com
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