Xabi Alonso confirmed Joao Pedro has picked up a thigh injury in his latest press conference, after the Brazilian missed Saturday’s loss to Tottenham – but how many games will he miss in total?

Pedro has been in superb form for Chelsea. Arguably Chelsea’s best player, he won the Premier League August Player of the Month award and has had a hand in eight goals in just six league games this term.

Every Chelsea fan will have seen the stats of how Chelsea have performed with and without Pedro this season. Without him, Chelsea have lost to Brentford and Tottenham, failing to score and conceding five.

How many games will Joao Pedro miss with his thigh injury?

In Alonso’s press conference, he confirmed the news. But he was vague about the details, concluding that Pedro would be missing for a few weeks, but did not specifically provide a number or how many weeks.

But Football London’s Bobby Vincent will have remained in the press conference past the embargoed section. He posted on X last night that Alonso confirmed he won’t return before the international break.

His last game came against Everton, before he missed Spurs. If he is back immediately after the break, Pedro will be ready to take on Leeds at Stamford Bridge. Tonight, Pedro will miss the trip to Liverpool.

Then, he will miss Saturday’s clash against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, and the trip north to take on Sunderland. It means Pedro will be missing for a total of four games, having missed one.

Have Chelsea suffered more injuries than other teams?

Tonight, Chelsea will be without Emi Martinez, Pedro, Reece James, and Jamie Gittens due to injury. Cole Palmer is suspended, doubt remains over Pep Chavarria though Emmanuel Emegha is back in the squad.

It feels like Alonso has had to deal with more than a manager’s fair share of injuries already. Especially, considering Martinez, James and Pedro are Chelsea’s core. But how does the rest of the league compare?

Moises Caicedo, Marco Palestra, Malo Gusto, Jordan Henderson, and plenty of others have also missed matches this season due to injury. According to Sky Sports, Chelsea have picked up 19 injuries so far.

Compared to the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea are fifth-highest for injuries. Two of the four sides above Chelsea are competing in Europe – Brighton and Villa – making the Blues’ injury list incredibly high.

Like Chelsea, Tottenham have also suffered 19 injuries this season. Aston Villa are on 20, Brighton are on 21 and unlucky Hull City have already clocked up a huge 25 injuries, just two months into the season.

For a new manager like Alonso, getting some consistency is key to winning fans and the dressing room over. But with so many injuries, that is difficult to do. Instead, Alonso is simply having to put out fires.