An ACL – which stands for anterior cruciate ligament – is one of the worst injuries in football.

ACL tears are common and typically rule a player out for at least six months, so they can often end your player’s season if they are unlucky enough to suffer one of these nightmare injuries.

Liverpool have been particularly unfortunate with ACL injuries, with Danny Ings and Joe Gomez both succumbing to the knee ligament tears this season alone.

Tim Krul, Jordan Amavi, Callum Wilson, Carl Jenkinson, Kurt Zouma and Max Gradel have all suffered ACL injuries too – ruling these footballers out of action for several months.

An ACL injury can often come out of nowhere, even if a footballer has nobody near him at the time. They are often suffered when a player lands on the ground with their knee straight – this was how Zouma did his ACL – or by a twisting motion on the knee.

Some experts believe modern football boots have contributed to more players suffering ACL tears, while for others the firmness of modern pitches is at least partly to blame for more ACLs.

Players are also bigger and stronger than ever, which can put a lot more strain on their knees compared to how the sport was played many years ago. According to specialists such as leading orthopaedic consultant Dr Ajeya Adhikari, this makes ACL injuries more likely.

ACL injuries seem to be on the rise but there is no way to predict when they might happen.

As a fantasy manager, if you have a player who suffers an ACL you need to transfer them out immediately as they are not going to be scoring any points for the foreseeable future.