Bournemouth, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham stars lead the way in terms of Premier League players with the most appearances off the bench this season.
Michy Batshuayi celebrates scoring for Chelsea
The phrase ‘super sub’ is one which is now in common parlance within the world of football, and is used to describe a player regularly brought on from the bench in order to influence a game. This is most typically a striker when a team is in need of a goal, and of the 11 players to have made 6 or more substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, it should come as no surprise that over half of them are forwards.
It is a term which is perhaps associated with no player more distinctly than that of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The ‘baby-faced assassin’ scored 17 Premier League goals from the bench for Manchester United, the joint second most in Premier League history, tied with Arsenal favourite Nwankwo Kanu and only behind Jermain Defoe.
In terms of overall substitute appearances, the ‘Mackem slayer’ Shola Ameobi leads the way, having made a whopping 142 appearances from the bench in the Premier League. This seasons most subbed on players are Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling and Liverpool’s Divock Origi, both of whom have come off the bench in 8 of the first 10 games of the season.
Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling in action with Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele
Chelsea’s summer signing Michy Batshuayi is the only player to have made 7 appearances from the bench so far this term, whilst there are 8 players all tied on 6 sub appearances, with just over a quarter of the Premier League season gone.
Those 8 players include Tottenham Hotspur forward Vincent Janssen, West Bromwich Albion midfielder James Morrison and Watford defender Juan Zuniga. Five of the eleven players with 6 or more sub appearances are yet to start a Premier League game this season, whilst Spurs’ summer recruit from AZ Alkmaar Janssen is the only one to have played some part in all 10 of his teams fixtures.
Bournemouth are the only team with 2 players to have made 6+ sub appearances, former Arsenal trainee Benik Afobe joining Dan Gosling in that regard. The Cherries are also the only club to have a player who has been subbed off in every game so far this season, namely Jordon Ibe. The full list of players to have been subbed off 6 or more times this season is below:
| Position | Team | Total Sub On | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Gosling | MF | Bournemouth | 8 | 9 | 221 |
| Divock Origi | FW | Liverpool | 8 | 8 | 105 |
| Michy Batshuayi | FW | Chelsea | 7 | 7 | 66 |
| Benik Afobe | FW | Bournemouth | 6 | 6 | 66 |
| Vincent Janssen | FW | Tottenham | 6 | 10 | 501 |
| Juan Zuñiga | DF | Watford | 6 | 8 | 247 |
| Lee Chung-yong | MF | C. Palace | 6 | 9 | 276 |
| James Morrison | MF | West Brom | 6 | 6 | 110 |
| Leonardo Ulloa | FW | Leicester | 6 | 6 | 89 |
| Jonathan Walters | FW | Stoke | 6 | 8 | 282 |
| James Ward-Prowse | MF | Southampton | 6 | 7 | 99 |
The inclusion of the minutes played statistic is a telling one, and shows that although Batshuayi is the third most subbed on player this season, with 7 substitute appearances, he is yet to even play the equivalent of an entire game for Chelsea. His stats of 66 minutes played from 7 appearances equates to less than 10 minutes of football in each of his appearances.
Juan Zuniga is the only defender with 6+ substitute appearances, although in truth, he is really more of a wing-back. The 30-year-old has already made a huge impact coming off the bench this season, having been introduced against Manchester United with the scores tied at 1-1, only to score a goal and win a penalty to help the Hornets win the game 3-1.
Who is the greatest ‘super sub’ in Premier League history?
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