Injuries are one of those unforeseen factors in football that carry the capacity to destroy an entire campaign, just ask Liverpool. 

Jurgen Klopp's side have been disproportionately impacted by a swathe of injury problems this season and failed to muster up anything remotely resembling a proper title defence. 

The pattern of the 2020/21 season has underlined luck's prevalent role in football, but just how badly have the Reds been affected in the past five years? 

From a financial perspective, not as badly as Manchester United. 

Indeed, according to a recent study conducted by Bonusfinder, Man United players have missed a whopping total of 1105 games due to injury since the beginning of the 2016/17 season. 

By comparison, players at Manchester City have only missed 779 games over the same period.

Those absences have cost United £105m in wages, which is little over £25m more than Arsenal, the next worst-hit Premier League club. 

The study analysed all the Premier League clubs to determine which outfit has lost the most in wages due to injury problems.

With the likes of Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez and Marcos Rojo all enduring significant periods on the side line while pocketing astronomical salaries, United find themselves at the top of a list they'd rather not be a part of. 

p1f249lf0q16s9jje1qv098nfftj.jpg

Pogba alone has cost the 20-time Premier League champions a total of £16.77m, which is more than any other player during the same period. 

The top ten is largely dominated by the elite outfits who have the financial power to offer the most lucrative deals in world football, but Crystal Palace are an intriguing inclusion in 6th place having lost £60.4m in the last five years. 

Connor Wickham and Mamadou Sakho are largely responsible for that particular drain on resources. 

Let's take a look at the top ten in descending order:

10. Newcastle United (£37.8m) 

9. Everton (£50.6m)

8. Chelsea (£53.7m)

7. Tottenham Hotspur (£55.3m)

6. Crystal Palace (£60.4m)

5. West Ham United (£63.9m)

4. Liverpool (£72.5m)

3. Manchester City (£73.1)

2. Arsenal (£79.7m)

1. Manchester United (£105.2m)