Stats show that footballers are more likely to get bitten by Luis Suarez than by sharks

More victims than a shark.

In an interesting study by New Statesman, it has been found that the odds of getting bitten by Liverpool striker Luis Suarez are actually higher than getting bitten by a shark.

This might sound funny at first. However, if we take a look at statistics churned out over the years, you learn that one out of 3.7 million people has the chance of being killed by a shark, which is much lower than the rate at which Suarez has been targetting his victims.

The 27-year-old has played almost around 361 professional matches in total, and has taken a bite of three players till date, with PSV's Otman Bakkal being his first victim in November 2010, followed by Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovi? in April 2013, and most recently, his toothy act against Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s decisive group D encounter against Italy on 24 June.

Just for kicks, here are a few photoshopped images depicting Suarez as a shark:

If we break the numbers a bit further down, three victims in 361 matches means a bite in every 120 matches for Suarez. Now there are a total of 14 players at risk in each of these matches, given all three of the substitutes get minutes on the pitch. So around 1680 players stand the risk of being bitten by Suarez every time they get on the pitch against him.

Even though Luis Suarez’s bites may not be as venomous as a shark’s, or as deadly as a thunder strike, they are uniquely problematic just because of their sheer likelihood of striking a professional football player.