There were seven goals scored by substitutes in the Premier League last weekend, the most on a Premier League matchday since the 2022-23 season. We look at the competition’s more interesting sub data.
The two late goals from Darwin Núñez for Liverpool at Brentford on Saturday felt like a huge moment in the Premier League title race, especially when Arsenal dropped points against Aston Villa just a few hours later.
They were significant in that they won the game for Arne Slot’s league leaders, they doubled Núñez’s goal tally in the Premier League for the season, but also that they came from the boot of a substitute.
They were two of seven goals scored via a substitute on Matchday 22 of the 2024-25 Premier League season, the most on a single PL matchday since MD 26 of the 2022-23 campaign (8).
As it turned out, Núñez’s first in the 91st minute at the Gtech Community Stadium to break the deadlock was the only one of the seven goals to change the result/outcome of a game. The other six changed the score, but not whether the game was won, lost or drawn.
They all count, though. Adama Traoré doubled Fulham’s lead in their 2-0 win at Leicester City after coming off the bench at half-time at the King Power Stadium.
The other four sub goals came on a fascinating afternoon of action on Sunday. Georginio Rutter had only been on the pitch at Old Trafford for seven minutes before taking advantage of a fumble from Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana to give Brighton a two-goal cushion in their 3-1 win.
Indeed, all four games played on Sunday featured a goal from a sub, with Tottenham’s Richarlison getting on the end of a cross from fellow sub Mikey Moore in second-half stoppage time to reduce the deficit to 3-2 against the Brazilian’s former club Everton, but it was ultimately in vain as Ange Postecoglou’s side suffered defeat on Merseyside.
It was a similar story for Paul Onuachu, who headed in Southampton’s second to make it 3-2 at Nottingham Forest, but Ivan Juric’s men were denied a dramatic equaliser late on when Ola Aina stopped Jan Bednarek’s header on the line.
James McAtee followed up his hat-trick against Salford City in the FA Cup with his first Premier League goal for Manchester City, very much only adding gloss to their 6-0 win at Ipswich Town with a fine looping header six minutes after coming on at Portman Road.
We wrote last season about the increase in goal activity from substitutes, unsurprisingly occurring in the years since the introduction of five substitutions per team in the Premier League, as well as the greater length of game time in the last few seasons.
The upward curve has somewhat slowed, though. Last season saw the record for the most goals scored by substitutes in a Premier League campaign broken comfortably with 159, which was 27 more than the previous record in 2022-23.
That meant 13.3% of goals scored in the Premier League in 2023-24 came via subs (excluding own goals), another record ahead of 12.8% in the 2013-14 season.
After MD 22 this season, there have been 81 goals scored by subs, making up 12.6% of the competition’s total goals (excl. own goals), the fourth-highest percentage in Premier League history.
A number of those have come from Bournemouth. Andoni Iraola’s side have impressed in various ways this season, but especially when it comes to using their bench. For a team that has suffered so many injuries and isn’t exactly associated with having strength in depth, Bournemouth have scored the most goals via substitutes in the Premier League this season with 11, while six have been assisted by subs.
The Cherries could even challenge the record for most goals and assists by subs in a single season in Premier League history, which is 24, jointly held by Manchester City (15 goals, 9 assists in 2011-12) and Liverpool (12 goals, 12 assists in 2023-24).
Fulham have been the next most efficient from the bench this season, scoring 10 goals and assisting three via subs. A lot of that has come from Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz, who have scored four and three goals each as substitutes respectively this season, while the latter also has an assist. Their four goal involvements as a sub is the joint-most along with Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara (2 goals, 2 assists).
Rutter’s goal at Old Trafford was Brighton’s seventh via a sub, the third most in the league, but perhaps surprisingly in fourth are struggling Leicester City, who have seen six goals scored by subs this season. Considering the Foxes have only scored 23 goals in the Premier League in their 22 games, that means more than a quarter (26.1%) have come from the bench.
At the other end of the spectrum, Crystal Palace are the only team in the Premier League still waiting for their first goal from a sub this season, while Everton have only scored one. Both clubs are level for goal involvements, though, as Palace have seen a goal assisted by a sub, which the Toffees have not.
Unsurprisingly, Bournemouth have won the most points thanks to subs providing goal involvements (17), ahead of Fulham (16), Aston Villa (13), Brighton & Hove Albion (10), Leicester (9), Liverpool (9) and Manchester City (8).
There has been an average of 8.3 subs used per game this season, the most in Premier League history. Obviously that’s because of the increase from a possible six to 10 since the start of the 2022-23 season, when each team was permitted to make five subs per game instead of three, but that average is higher than both that first campaign (7.9) and last season (8.0).
Nottingham Forest and Brighton have made the most subs with 106 each after 22 games, an average of 4.8 per game, meaning Nuno Espírito Santo and Fabian Hürzeler are almost always utilising their full allocation of five changes in each match. Fulham, West Ham and Southampton aren’t far behind on 4.7 per game, with Ipswich Town on 4.6.
Everton have made the fewest substitutions (64), averaging just 3.1 per game, which partly explains their low number of goal involvements from subs. Palace have made the third-fewest with an average of 3.6 per game.
Interestingly, the six teams averaging fewer than four subs per game include Arsenal (3.7), Chelsea (3.8) and Man City (3.2), while Premier League leaders Liverpool only average 4.1. Even with the perception that those teams have more strength in depth, they’re not necessarily using their wider squad in-game as much as other teams who supposedly have lesser options.
Forest’s Jota Silva has been subbed on the most so far in 2024-25, turned to by his manager 18 times. That’s at least twice more than any other player in the Premier League, while Ipswich’s Liam Delap has gone in the other direction most often, being subbed off by Kieran McKenna 19 times.
The average number of subs is up from last season, but the average time being played by them, including stoppage-time, is marginally down. Subs averaged 25 minutes and 53 seconds on the pitch last season, which is down to 25 mins, 16 secs this season. As Diogo Jota showed when he scored just 22 seconds after coming on for Liverpool at Nottingham Forest last week, every second counts.
Last season’s increase in goal involvements from subs could partly be attributed to longer games. The average match length of 101 mins, 36 secs in the Premier League in 2023-24 was over three minutes longer than the previous most in a season. That has dropped to 99 mins, 50 secs this season, but that is still comfortably the second longest in the competition’s history.
Ball-in-play time is arguably a more significant indicator, though, and is down by over a minute on last season, so subs – and indeed, all players – are getting less time to impact games.
The 2023-24 campaign saw the ball in play for an average of 58 mins, 12 secs, which is down to 57 mins, 11 secs this season after MD 22.
The impact late in games of substitutes via goal involvements across the league is clear to see, and that really has been sparked by the rule change in 2022-23 that allowed teams to make five subs per game.
In that campaign, 20.0% of goals in Premier League games were scored after the 75th minute, of which 85 came via substitutes (39.2%).
In 2023-24, almost a quarter of goals (24.6%) were scored after the 75th minute, with an almost identical percentage coming from subs as the previous season (39.4% – 121).
After MD 22 this season, 22.0% of the Premier League’s goals have been recorded after the 75th minute, with 44.9% (66) of those being scored by subs, the highest percentage in the competition’s history by five and a half percentage points.
However, just looking at goals in second-half stoppage time, the impact of fresh legs is even more apparent.
There have already been as many goals in or after the 90th minute this season as there were in the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign (61), while only two previous seasons have seen more than the 34 goals in the 90th minute or later scored by subs (36 in 2018-19 and 52 in 2023-24).
That means 55.7% of goals in second-half stoppage time have been scored by substitutes, by far the most in the competition’s history, ahead of the 46.4% of last season.
It’s evident that subs are having a greater impact on games now, which is why so many managers want to refer to them as ‘finishers’ these days. Players want to start every week, but they can still have a huge impact as a sub, with many even playing more than half a game if there’s enough stoppage time added, and being more likely than their teammates to be a stoppage-time hero.
By our nature, we often fear change. Just ask your dad what he still refers to a Snickers bar as. Premier League bosses are largely embracing the fear, though, and looking to change things for their teams for the better.
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