Man Utd and Chelsea winners of new five subs rule in race for Champions League but Wolves’ squad depth spells trouble

THE Premier League will allow the use of five subs in a match after the restart – and those with the biggest squads are set to prosper.

The relaxing of the replacements rule was suggested to Ifab by Fifa, with the fitness of players that have hardly kicked a ball in three months in mind.

Manchester United possess a young and talented second string ready to play their partsCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Nuno’s Wolves have the smallest squad of any Champions League-chaserCredit: Reuters

While the lack of supporters in stadiums will likely make for an eerie atmosphere, potentially failing to conjure a feeling of jeopardy in these “ghost matches”, that will certainly not be the case for the players.

Liverpool’s title is virtually sewn up, but those on the pitch will be very, very aware of European places and relegation spots that are to be played for… and avoided.

It makes sense that teams with the biggest budgets should have the best squads – but right across the league, having even a small edge over those that surround you in the table could prove pivotal over the remaining matches.

But when it comes to those chasing Champions League qualification, we take a look at who could have gained an inch or two with today’s rule change.

TOP FOUR CONTENDERS

While we all agree that Liverpool have won the title, and that Manchester City’s league fortunes are largely unimportant given their impending European ban – the first point of interest will be the battle for top four places.

Assuming that City’s ban will be upheld and that fifth place will in fact offer a Champions League position, Leicester’s is virtually secured, barring a complete collapse.

The Athletic have calculated the number of goals and assists recorded by players that do not feature in any of the Champions League-chasing clubs’ top 14 in terms of minutes played this season – fringe players.

And while the Foxes have the second-fewest number of goals scored by fringe players of clubs in this category, this season, sixth-placed Wolves’ stats make even more barren reading.

The likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Marc Albrighton and Demarai Gray will all offer Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers useful options despite not being regular starters.

Whereas Wolves fans, on the other hand, haven’t seen a single goal scored by their team by a player outside of their 14 most-used.

Nuno Espirito Santo has favoured a small squad since Wolves’ promotion, using only 20 players this season – but perhaps he will have to lean on the fit-again Morgan Gibbs-White or January signing Daniel Podence for some inspiration.

The bigger clubs in the mix Chelsea and Manchester United, as expected, are far better-placed on paper to take advantage of the new rule.

Those outside of the former’s 14 most-used players this season include Marcos Alonso, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ross Barkley, Pedro, Olivier Giroud, Michy Batshuayi and the fit-again Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

And while not possessing a squad brimming with quite as many creative options as Frank Lampard, Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will also be able to roll the dice.

Mason Greenwood has scored three of his five Premier League goals as a substitute this term – and Solskjaer will also have the fit-again Paul Pogba to call upon.

Two points behind the Red Devils are Sheffield United, with Chris Wilder’s distinctive side looking to upset the apple cart and crash the European party.

Chelsea have ample backups ready to play their partsCredit: EPA

While many of the Blades’ starters appear to have been fairly locked in, Wilder has used a number of forwards including Oli McBurnie, Billy Sharp, Lys Mousset and the luckless David McGoldrick.

Further back still are North London underachievers Tottenham and Arsenal – whose hopes of securing Champions League qualification look fanciful at best, given their pitiful seasons to date.

But possessing the fit-again Harry Kane, Steven Bergwijn and Son Heung-min – coupled with the lesser seen Ryan Sessegnon and Tanguy Ndombele – boss Jose Mourinho cannot claim to not have sufficient attacking options.

Arsenal have been mainly reliant on talented youngsters to fill their squad, and the five-sub rule could really benefit the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah – as well as regular bench-dweller Joe Willock.

Gabriel Martinelli will be hoping for more first-team chancesCredit: AP:Associated Press

Fans of all 20 teams may be hoping to see some of their academy products given a chance to shine upon the league’s return.

But given the nature of 25-man squads, most teams will have ample filler ready to come in and play their parts.

It remains to be seen, however, which of these fringe players will have the ability to step up when required in the coming weeks.

Managers may be forced to trust the lesser-seen members of their squadsCredit: Reuters

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk