Liverpool key pair among Premier League’s most overworked ahead of the run-in | OneFootball

It’s always around this time of the season that we start to feel really knackered and new aches develop in our knees and back. And all we do is sit. Must be far harder for the players, you’d imagine.

So it seems an opportune time to see which poor sods have racked up the most minutes for their clubs this season. All club games across all competitions count, so fairly obvious which clubs will be involved and which Manchester Uniteds very conspicuously will not be.

We’re only considering outfield players here because it’s different for goalkeepers, isn’t it? Lower risk. They probably don’t even have aching knees.

10) Erling Haaland (Man City) – 3010 minutes

Has started all but one game in the Premier League and all but one game in the Champions League. Was subbed on in both of those.

Currently scoring a goal roughly every 104 of those 3010 minutes, with an assist every 430 minutes.

9) Sandro Tonali (Newcastle) – 3015 minutes

An all-competition regular for Newcastle, which this season means being very busy indeed. Has started 23 of Newcastle’s 27 Premier League games and finished the other four, as well as playing a full 90 minutes in eight out of nine Champions League games while racking up 210 FA Cup minutes thanks to the extra time against Bournemouth.

He’s even chipped in with a couple of 90-minute Carabao stints against Tottenham and Man City.

7=) Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal) – 3083 minutes

Quietly yet instantly indispensable for Arsenal as they bid to turn second place into first at last. Even the one Premier League game he didn’t start – against West Ham all the way back in October – he still put in an hour’s shift after coming on as a first-half sub for the injured Martin Odegaard.

Expect plenty more Gunners to soon tick over the 3000-minute mark as they continue their pursuit of Quad God status.

7=) Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) – 3083 minutes

Has played at least 80 minutes of every single Premier League game for Villa this season, which perhaps explains why he’s gone slightly off the boil with just one goal in the last 10 of those games since back-to-back doubles against West Ham and Man United.

Has been afforded slightly more rest in the Europa League but has still appeared in all eight games whether from the start or bench.

6) Nikola Milenkovic (Nottingham Forest) – 3159 minutes

Has a flawless 2430 minutes on the pitch across 27 Premier League games under four managers but has been far lazier in Europe where in one of Forest’s nine games he didn’t even start and only came on as a second-half sub, and in another he could only be bothered to put in 78 minutes of effort.

The most impressive element of all this for any centre-back is probably managing to avoid any suspensions.

5) Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea) – 3166 minutes

Missed a 3-0 win at Forest in October with knee knack but has otherwise been involved in some capacity every single one of Chelsea’s other 40 games this season across four competitions.

The fact Fernandez has already made as many club appearances this season as any Manchester United player can manage by the end of May is a stark reminder of just what an advantage United’s humiliation across continental and domestic cup competitions over the last nine months or so has actually given them.

4) Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) – 3218 minutes

Given that he has been off the field for just seven minutes when available for Liverpool – at the end of a 2-0 win over Brighton – it seems fair to assume you could even whack another 180 minutes on to that total had he not collected five bookings and the most joyless red card in history to pick up a couple of suspensions while shuttling between midfield and right-back.

3) Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace) – 3394 minutes

Hadn’t missed a Premier League minute until being kept out of Sunday’s win over Wolves by the adductor injury he picked up an hour in to Palace’s Conference League punishment round first leg against Zrinjski Mostar. A painful reminder of just why those European punishment rounds are to be avoided at all costs.

2) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 3420 minutes

With all due respect to (SPOILER ALERT) Malick Thiaw, this feels like the big one. This is the name on this list that feels like it has the greatest potential to cause a significant issue over the remaining months of the season.

Van Dijk, at 34 years old, has played every single minute so far of Liverpool’s season across the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. It’s an astonishing effort, and – it should be noted – not an outlier for a man who has already had two Premier League seasons with 38 appearances, another with 37 and another with 36.

1) Malick Thiaw (Newcastle) – 3435 minutes

We’ll hold our hands up and admit this is not the name we’d have immediately landed on when tasked with naming the busiest player at any Premier League club this season.

The most impressive part is that this is a player who only arrived at Newcastle on August 12 and played only nine minutes across the first four games of the Premier League season.

But he’s started every single one of the 23 since then, as well as a full 90 in the last eight of Newcastle’s nine Champions League games – he is suspended but would surely have been rested anyway for the second leg against Qarabag – hasn’t missed a minute in the FA Cup, and didn’t miss a minute in the run to the Carabao semi-finals.