In the 54th minute of Liverpool’s game against Nottingham Forest, Nuno Santo, who was the manager, made a substitution and brought on Hudson-Odoi. The adolescent proceeded to net the deciding goal, securing the Forest’s initial triumph at Anfield in more than fifty years.
After being subbed on, Hudson-Odoi felt the pressure to give his best to assist the team in securing a victory.
During the Premier League’s first match of the season, four substitutes scored. Hudson-Odoi was one of them, and statistics show that the impact of substitutes has gone up significantly.
More subs, more goals, more late drama
A ‘super-sub’ has been a fan favorite for years. The most famous example is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. He scored 28 goals from off the bench with many of them winners, the most famous being in the 1999 Champions League final. After matches many of the winners love to do online sports betting and have fun.
Now more than ever they are affecting games.
In the 380 top-flight games last season there were 159 goals scored by substitutes – the most ever in the Premier League.
That figure was aided by the fact that more substitutes were also used than ever before, with a record eight on average per match.
In the last 5 minutes of matches, more goals have been scored than ever before. In the previous season, 178 goals had been scored in these final 5 minutes. While not all of these were scored by substitutes and were not all of them created by the substitutes, the increase is attributed to the number of managers who can make more alterations.
What’s changed?
The obvious answer for this rise is the changes made to regulations around substitutes.
From the 2022-23 season, managers have been able to make five changes per game instead of three and that saw an increase in goals from substitutes from 102 in 2021-22 to 132 in the first under the new rules.
That increased by 27 goals in 2023-24 and the upward trend appears to be continuing this season, with 13.2% of goals scored in total so far coming from substitutes – a higher percentage than any other Premier League season.
But also having an impact is that matches have been lasting longer.
The average added time per game last season was 11 minutes and 36 seconds, almost double what it was just three years ago.
Again, more stoppages for substitutes are playing a part in that, but the ball is also in play now for more minutes than ever before, with an average of 58:12 per game.
But this will likely change again this season, because of a change in the timing of goal celebrations.
Until now time was added on for every second between the ball hitting the net and the kick-off being taken.
Now the clock is only started after 30 seconds. So a game with six goals would have three minutes less of stoppage time.
Who uses substitutes most effectively?
There was a hint of irony in Nottingham Forest’s win at Liverpool in that it was the visitors’ substitutions who had an impact and not the hosts.
Reds boss Arne Slot made a triple change on the hour mark as Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, and Conor Bradley were sent on but 12 minutes later they were behind.
Last season, no team was more effective with their substitutes than Liverpool as they scored or assisted 24 goals.
That was under Jurgen Klopp, who had a knack of making changes that swung games in Liverpool’s favor.
The German saw a total of 80 goals scored by substitutes in the Premier League – the fourth-most in history behind Arsene Wenger (148), Alex Ferguson (131) and David Moyes (96).
But interestingly, is what you don’t see in the table above. Premier League champions Manchester City were ranked 11th for goal involvements from substitutes, who contributed 13 goals.
Pep Guardiola doesn’t usually tinker during games, instead more often than not putting his faith in the XI he started with. Last season he made an average of 3.03 substitutions per game with only Roy Hodgson and David Moyes averaging fewer.
Making an impact at the international level as well
Mikel Oyarzabal scores the winner against England for Spain in the final of Euro 2024
The impact of substitutes was also seen at this summer’s European Championship in Germany.
The tournament was the second Euros. Five subs were permitted in regulation time, and 11 of the 12 goals scored in added time at the end of matches were by players off the bench.
Indeed, the winning strike for Spain against England in the final was by substitute Mikel Oyarzabal, who was one of eight players overall who came on to score winners.
Now, more than ever, having the best squad rather than just the best starting XI is proving pivotal.
