The 2023-24 Premier League season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting on record, with the top teams separated by the smallest of margins as we enter the home straight.

One feature of the campaign so far has been the impact of players off the bench, with an all-time Premier League high 14.2% of goals (ex. own-goals) this season coming via cameo appearances, at a another chart-topping rate of 0.44 per game.

The introduction of the five-substitute rule in 2022-23 has no doubt helped as coaches look to replenish their weary teams in the latter stages of matches.

So far this season, Liverpool lead the way for goals in the Premier League to come via subs, either scored or assisted or two subs combining, quite a tally in the context of the tooth-and-nail title battle and well ahead of both Arsenal and Manchester City.

Whoever ultimately lifts the trophy in May, Liverpool are well on course to top another ranking, with that 19-goal haul close to the best-ever seasonal total, registered by Manchester City in 2011-12.

In terms of just goals, Brighton lead the way with 12 goals scored from subs as they navigate the unchartered waters of domestic and European campaigns. Who knows how vital those goals could be in the Seagulls’ hopes for another Euro-excursion in 2024-25.

Those Seagull sub strikes this season also account for 26.1% of their total haul this season, the fifth-highest total in Premier League history.

*excluding own-goals

One the stars of Aston Villa’s impressive campaign this season is Leon Bailey, with the Jamaican wingman proving to be a potent force off the bench. The Villan leads the way in terms of goal involvement as a sub in the Premier League this season, netting four times and providing two assists in cameo roles.

As we all know it’s points, not goals, that win prizes and it’s Scott McTominay, joint-second in that particular list behind Bailey, who is making his sub goals count more than any other player this season.

The all-action Scot has picked up a whopping seven points for Manchester United this season courtesy of goals off the bench, the most of any player in the top-flight in 2023-24.

This impressive haul also ranks very highly across all Premier League seasons, with only Edin Dzeko registering a bigger points return in 2012-13 for Manchester City (9).

Tottenham’s Welsh winger, Brennan Johnson has been the most productive sub in the Premier League this season in terms of chance creation, with the former Nottingham Forest man picking up four points for the Lilywhites via his three sub assists.

That haul also currently stands as the joint-highest for a single campaign in Premier League history, with Crystal Palace striker, Jean-Philippe Mateta, also closing in on the top courtesy of his impressive understudy performances this season.

Add goals and assists together and Johnson and McTominay once again lead the way this season, with only the aforementioned Dzeko in 2012-13 and ex-Aston Villa, Liverpool and Crystal Palace hitman, Christian Benteke in 2015-16 with the Reds, racking up more points via goal involvements in single seasons.

While it’s a bumper season for sub heroics, what does it actually mean for the Premier League table. Well, interestingly enough, if we exclude goals from subs (for and against and excluding own-goals of course), the biggest losers are current league leaders, Arsenal, and Euro-chasers, Wolves.

The Gunners drop eight points, tumbling down to third, behind Liverpool, who themselves are hit with a six-point deduction in second. At the other end of the table, Wolves find themselves eight points worse off and just above the drop-zone.

Interestingly, the biggest winners are none other than Crystal Palace, with the south Londoners gaining a whopping 10 points which nudges them into the top 10.

So there you have it, bench-warmers may well prove to have a very big say in who wins what and who goes where come May.

Then again, super-subs aren’t always needed – just ask Arsene Wenger and his 2003-04 title-winning Invincibles, a side which needed not a single goal from a sub all season to make history!