Five substitutes: what changes can we expect this season?

Managers in the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL) can make up to five substitutions per match this season, in line with most of the top European divisions.

Five subs were first permitted at the end of the coronavirus-affected 2019-20 season, but – unlike several other leagues – the Premier League and EFL reverted back to three subs the following year.

The rule change will be welcomed by managers of top clubs, but critics have argued it favours sides with deeper squads.

To understand its potential impact, PA has analysed data from Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 – all of which have allowed five subs for the past two seasons.

It goes without saying that an increase in the availability of subs will lead to a corresponding rise in their playing time.

Substitutes accounted for just over six per cent of minutes played in Europe’s top domestic leagues in the two seasons before coronavirus (2017-18 and 2018-19). This has risen to almost 10 per cent in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The increase in subs’ minutes is consistent across top-six clubs and those that finish lower down the table.

However, teams are less likely to use their full allocation of subs than they were before.

Since the rule change, managers have used all five subs around half of the time (52 per cent). This compares with 90 per cent of teams that made the full three changes beforehand.

With an extra two substitutes available, managers are able to spread their changes across the latter part of a game.

In the past two seasons, teams in Europe’s top leagues have made their first sub in the 56th minute and their final change in the 83rd.

This compares with the 58th and the 81st minute, respectively, in the two