In a Premier League campaign that is increasingly dictated by injury crises, squad rotation and a jam‑packed fixture list, the ability of a team to cope when its first‑choice eleven are unavailable has become a decisive factor. The central question is how much quality lies beyond each club's usual starting lineup, how much of that quality is retained when starters are forced out, and where the strengths and weaknesses of each squad truly lie. Moreover, it is essential to understand how frequently managers actually tap into these alternatives, what impact bench players have when they are called upon, and how each club's overall resources compare with the demands of upcoming matches, recent injury histories and expected performance levels.
To answer these queries, we have constructed a comprehensive Squad Depth Index that incorporates all of these variables. Our Overall Squad Depth Index, which blends data on playing time, match performance and market valuations, places Arsenal at the summit of the league. The Gunners also lead the separate Competitive Depth Index, a metric that factors in the standard of performance a club is forecast to maintain, based on Sky Sports' super‑computer predictions, alongside the total market value of the squad as estimated by Transfermarkt.
While Arsenal's top spot is hardly shocking, the analysis reveals why Mikel Arteta's roster is regarded as both deep and dependable compared with the rest of the English top flight. The methodology behind the index combines Opta’s detailed playing‑time and match statistics with Transfermarkt’s current estimated player values. First, we identified each club's established starting XI and the strongest viable alternatives for every position. The model then assesses how much quality is retained from the first to the second XI, the overall calibre of reserve players, positional coverage, actual rotation patterns and the readiness of each squad member.
Substitute attacking impact is measured using Premier League data from the previous two full seasons plus the current campaign, with adjustments for sample size to avoid skewed results from brief cameo appearances. Competitive Depth further incorporates the expected performance level for each club, derived from Sky Sports’ forecasting engine, and the total squad value.
Arsenal’s summer transfer activity illustrates a clear focus on bolstering depth. Although the club flirted with marquee targets such as Vinícius Júnior and Julián Álvarez, the acquisitions of Bruno Guimarães and Ezri Konsa have already added quality to a back four and midfield already brimming with talent.
Arteta also had to navigate a long list of injuries last season, a situation the club hopes to avoid this term. When we calculate the combined current market value of Arsenal's named substitutes who have featured in Premier League matches this season, the figure averages around £367 million – a margin that no other club approaches. It is worth noting that Transfermarkt valuations tend to be lower than actual transfer fees; Premier League clubs, on average, paid roughly 36 % above these estimates during the most recent transfer window. Applying that premium pushes Arsenal's bench value closer to the £500 million mark, underscoring the extraordinary depth at the club.
The three newly promoted sides – Hull City, Coventry City and Ipswich Town – sit at the bottom of the bench‑value rankings, while Brentford, positioned just outside the traditional "big six," records an average bench value of £129 million, a respectable figure for a club of its size. Market value alone, however, does not guarantee usefulness.
To gauge the practical impact of substitutes, we examined every Premier League player’s output when entering matches as a substitute across the last two full seasons and the current one. Goals and assists per 90 minutes are normalised toward the league average, taking into account the size of each player's substitute sample, to prevent a single brief cameo from inflating rankings. By this measure, Arsenal rank second only to Brighton in terms of goal involvements per 90 minutes when coming off the bench, and they lead the raw total count.
Since the start of the previous season, Arsenal’s squad has contributed 27 goals and assists in 4,340 substitute minutes, delivering an adjusted rate of roughly 0.54 goal involvements per 90 minutes. The demanding schedule following the international break will test the Gunners’ depth even further. Yet possessing a deep bench is meaningless if a manager does not utilise it. To explore usage patterns, we ranked every player by total Premier League minutes and split them into three tiers.
Tottenham Hotspur, for instance, have already allocated a relatively high share of minutes beyond their core XI despite competing on fewer fronts, suggesting that Roberto De Zerbi may still be experimenting with his optimal lineup. Manchester United’s core eleven account for more than 88 % of the club’s minutes – a figure only surpassed by Bournemouth and Everton – indicating a heavy reliance on the first team.
Despite this, data suggests United possess considerable depth, though Michael Carrick has yet to fully trust the rotational options. In contrast, Arsenal and Manchester City allocate a larger proportion of minutes to players ranked 12th‑22nd in the minutes hierarchy, with those groups contributing about 15 % of total playing time for each club. This reflects a strategic rotation policy that spreads workload across a broader pool of talent. To simulate an extreme injury crisis that wipes out an entire starting XI, we built a standardised first XI for each club based on current playing‑time data, then assembled the strongest possible second XI from the remaining squad members.
Arsenal’s modelled first XI is valued at £580 million, while their second XI is worth approximately £536 million – a retention rate of roughly 92 % of the starting side’s estimated value, even when every starter is replaced. Manchester City, by comparison, sees a drop of £428.2 million between its first and second XI, largely because the exclusion of Erling Haaland creates a steep decline in value. This stark contrast highlights the varying degrees of depth across the league. Two clubs – Aston Villa and Hull City – actually possess a second XI that is more valuable than their usage‑based first XI, a situation likely influenced by late‑window transfer activity that has yet to be fully integrated into the starting line‑up.
Depth issues typically surface when a specific position lacks adequate cover. To pinpoint such vulnerabilities, we divided each squad into ten positional categories: goalkeeper, right‑back, centre‑back, left‑back, defensive midfield, central midfield, attacking midfield, left wing, right wing and centre‑forward. For each role we identified the two strongest credible options, and for centre‑back we considered four players (two starting spots). Even with Arsenal’s overall quality, they are noticeably thin on the left wing after the departures of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
Liverpool faces an even greater deficit on the opposite flank following Mohamed Salah’s exit. The weakest positional depth across the division is found in the attacking midfield slots of Brighton, Crystal Palace and Newcastle, clubs that often operate without a traditional number 10. Everton rank 20th for centre‑forward depth, scoring a modest 36.1 in our metric after their failed pursuit of Folarin Balogun. This does not imply that their starting striker, Thierno Barry, is the poorest in the league; rather, it reflects a lack of quality alternatives behind him.
When looking at squads holistically, the Premier League champions (Manchester City) are among the most balanced, with only Aston Villa surpassing them in the pure Squad Depth Score – a measure of the strength of alternatives relative to the first team. Recent departures such as Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martínez have narrowed the gap between starters and rotation players for several clubs. Youthful talent can also bridge depth gaps. Our model incorporates development players who have established market values or have already earned Premier League minutes.
Chelsea boast the most valuable cohort of young first‑team players in the league, with seven individuals aged 21 or under collectively worth £229.5 million. These are home‑grown or recently purchased prospects like Willian Estevão and Geovany Quenda.
Manchester City rank second in this youth‑value ranking with £190.9 million, followed by Brighton (£179.1 million), Manchester United (£177.1 million) and Bournemouth (£159.5 million). However, high market value does not always translate into playing time. Brighton and Manchester United, for example, rank within the top five for minutes played by young players, whereas Manchester City’s youngsters have logged only 257 minutes, and Arsenal’s two promising talents (valued at £72.7 million) have accumulated 282 minutes – still more than Leeds United’s solitary minute. Finally, we simulated the removal of each player from every club’s first XI, rebuilding the strongest possible line‑up from the remaining squad each time.
This exercise highlights which players and positions would cause the greatest structural disruption if unavailable. As expected, goalkeepers dominate the list of critical losses, with Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen identified as the most damaging absence in the entire league.
Among outfield players, Aston Villa’s youngster George Hemmings, Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton emerge as the most consequential losses for their respective clubs. Overall, the analysis demonstrates that while Arsenal currently sit atop the depth rankings, many clubs possess pockets of strength and vulnerability that will shape their ability to navigate the grueling Premier League calendar. Clubs seeking to improve their resilience should consider not only market values but also actual usage patterns, positional coverage and the readiness of young prospects to step up when the season demands it.