In a sample of the last 100 Premiership games, when Fabregas plays for Arsenal they have a 59% win record compared to 44% when he is unavailable. It can also be said that Arsenal lose more games without Fabregas, with the Gunners losing 28% of fixtures with Fabregas absent compared to just 13% when he is present.

Fabregas is the proverbial clockwork that keeps Arsenal ticking. Matches where he is involved have been higher scoring than when he has been absent. In 56% of the matches involving Fabregas, Arsenal has witnessed +2.5 match goals, compared to 61% yielding -2.5 goals when he isn’t there.

With Arsenal’s title aspirations clearly dented by Fabregas’ long lay-off, how crucial to the other Big Four teams is their respective talisman?

When Liverpool are without Steve Gerrard there seems to be very little effect on the win ratio. They win 58% of games when he does play and 56% when he doesn’t. However, they are definitely more affected in the goal department, 63% of matches without Steven Gerrard feature fewer than 2.5 goals compared to 51% with him.

Frank Lampard, who missed large chunks of last season for Chelsea, could be one of the reasons Chelsea failed in their pursuit of the Premier League title last time out. When Lampard features Chelsea win 67% of their fixtures compared with 52% when he is not playing. Chelsea’s match goals suffer slightly without Lampard, seeing 71% of games feature fewer than three goals compared to 61% with him.

Manchester United are perhaps the most affected by the loss of their star man, seeing 73% of their matches won with Cristiano Ronaldo compared with 55% without him. Furthermore, his absence has a negative aspect on match goals with 53% of games with him witnessing +2.5 goals and only 40% of games without him seeing +2.5 goals.

With a prospective four-month recovery period for Fabregas, Arsenal will have to be without him for some tricky fixtures in the Premier League and FA Cup, not to mention the Champions League. When he is not playing Arsenal have been more susceptible to bottom-half teams e.g. Fulham have twice beaten the Gunners as have Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Manchester City when Fabregas has been absent. It does not bode well for Arsenal to be without Fabregas.