The Premier League ‘Big Six’ RANKED As Their Players Mount Up The Minutes At The World Cup

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1 year ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester City News

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Everton, leeds, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton, spurs, West Ham, wolves

Having the World Cup right in the middle of the season has given Premier League managers a massive headache.

The competition is taking place over an intense period of just six weeks, testing the fitness of the players taking part.

When the domestic season resumes at the end of this month, fatigue could play a role in how certain clubs perform, so it’s clearly beneficial if a team has fewer players in Qatar going deep into the tournament.

Press the next page as we count up the minutes that players at the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ have played at the tournament so far.

6) Arsenal – 612 Minutes

Manager Mikel Arteta will probably be delighted by how little time his players have spent out on the pitch at the World Cup.

Ten players flew out to take part in the competition, but there is a chance that only a few of them will feature for their countries after the group stages.

5) Liverpool – 771 Minutes

The Reds have just seven players in Qatar but it looks as if all but one of them, Darwin Nunez, will progress from the group stages with their respective countries.

Alisson, Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk are the only regular starters remaining, though, so manager Jurgen Klopp shouldn’t be too concerned about the fitness of his team when they return to the AXA Training Centre.

4) Chelsea – 1489 Minutes

Although the Blues are only fourth on this list, their World Cup players have already accrued double the amount of minutes that Liverpool’s contingent have played.

With the majority of the twelve at the tournament expected to be involved in the knockout rounds too, manager Graham Potter could have a pretty jaded first-team squad come Boxing Day.

3) Tottenham – 1623 Minutes

Hugo Lloris, Harry Kane, Ivan Perisic and Richarlison have played prominent roles for their countries in the World Cup but the remaining seven are either bench players or could soon return to England after being knocked out of the group stages.

Considering the likes of Lloris and Kane are two of Antonio Conte’s best players, though, there is a danger that they could suffer burn out if they go deep into the knockout stages.

2) Manchester United – 1708 Minutes

Although the Red Devils have 13 players currently in Qatar, many have not been regular starters for their countries, with Luke Shaw, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes taking up the majority of the minutes.

Christian Eriksen will be heading home soon after Denmark were knocked out at the group stages, while the likes of Tyrell Malacia and Antony haven’t featured that much so far.

1) Manchester City – 2325 Minutes

Players from the Premier League champions have accrued almost four times as many minutes as their title rivals Arsenal, even before the group stage has finished.

With a total of 16 players at the tournament, it isn’t totally surprising, and with the likes of Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez now starting more regularly, the minute counter could soon shoot up.