This season will almost certainly break the record for Premier League goals scored by substitutes, but could it be broken this weekend? We look at how substitutes are now having a bigger impact than ever before.
Premier League football returns this weekend following the international break, with a record set to be broken over the Matchday 30 fixtures.
As we pointed out only last week, substitutes have had more influence over Premier League matches this season than ever before. Of all goals scored in the competition this season, excluding own goals, a record 14.3% have been scored by subs.
Of course, there are explanations for this – Premier League matches are lasting longer than ever, plus the five-sub rule that came into effect in 2022-23 is seeing managers look to their bench for intervention more regularly than ever before. Combine those two factors with goals flying in at a record rate, and you can see why we’re witnessing a record-breaking season for substitute goals.
Last season saw a record 132 goals scored by substitutes. So far this season, we’ve seen 126 – just six off that record with 97 games remaining. Barring an astonishing regression, that record will be broken in this campaign, and there’s a good chance that it will be reached this weekend across the 10 Premier League matches.
Premier League substitutes have already set a new seasonal record for total goal involvements (219), surpassing last season’s total of 207.
The last full matchday of Premier League action featuring all 20 teams (MD 28 between 9-11 March) saw seven goals scored by subs in total – the joint most this season on a single weekend of action alongside MD 5 between 16-18 September.
Overall, 10 different Premier League matchdays this season have witnessed at least six goals scored by substitutes – a feat, that if matched this weekend, would equal the Premier League record for most goals scored by subs in a single campaign.
Sunday’s two fixtures seem ripe for substitutes to make an impact. Liverpool host Brighton at Anfield before the biggest clash of the Premier League season so far takes place at the Etihad Stadium when Manchester City host title rivals Arsenal.
No teams have scored more Premier League goals via substitutes this season than Brighton (12), with Liverpool and Arsenal following close behind (11).
Overall, no team’s substitutes have provided more goal involvements in the competition this season than Jürgen Klopp’s side (22 – 11 goals, 11 assists), with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal next (18 – 11 goals, 7 assists).
While unlikely to be reached this weekend, this season will also likely see a landmark reached for substitute goals.
Overall, across 32 seasons of Premier League football, we’ve now witnessed 2,988 goals scored by players off the substitutes’ bench (excluding own goals). That’s just 12 away from the landmark of 3,000 substitute goals in the competition, which will most likely be reached in April.
Manchester United have scored more of these than any other club (217), followed by Chelsea (208) and Arsenal (202), while West Ham (149) have conceded more goals to Premier League subs than any side in the history of the competition.
Looking specifically at Premier League managers, Jürgen Klopp has seen 80 goals scored by substitutes that he’s made in the competition – the fourth-most in history behind Arsène Wenger (148), Alex Ferguson (131) and current West Ham boss David Moyes (96).
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