In a Premier League campaign that is increasingly dictated by injury crises, squad rotation and a jam‑packed fixture list, the ability of a club to cope when its first‑choice eleven are unavailable has become a decisive factor. The central question is: how much quality lies beyond the regular starters?
How much of that quality is retained when the usual eleven are forced out? Which clubs possess the strongest and weakest depth across the various positions, and how frequently do managers actually turn to their bench players? Moreover, what impact do these squad members have when they are introduced from the bench, and how does each club's overall resource pool compare with the demands of upcoming matches, short‑turnaround weeks and recent injury histories?
To answer these queries we have built a comprehensive Squad Depth Index that incorporates all of the above variables. Our Overall Squad Depth Index, which blends data on playing time, match performance and market valuation, places Arsenal at the summit of the Premier League.
The Gunners also top the separate Competitive Depth Index, a finding that is hardly surprising given the consistency of Mikel Arteta's recruitment and squad management. But what exactly makes Arsenal's roster so robust and dependable compared to the rest of the league? The methodology behind the index combines Sky Sports' Opta‑derived playing‑time statistics with Transfermarkt's current estimated market values.
First, we identified each club's established starting eleven and then pinpointed the strongest viable alternatives for every position. The model then evaluates how much quality is retained when moving from the first XI to the second, the overall calibre of reserve players, positional coverage, actual rotation patterns and the readiness of each squad member. For attacking substitutes we calculated an adjusted impact rate based on Premier League performances over the previous two full seasons plus the current campaign, with a weighting system that corrects for small sample sizes.
The Competitive Depth component also incorporates Sky Sports' super‑computer forecast of the standard each club is expected to maintain, alongside the total squad market value. Finally, a preparedness score compares squad depth against known fixture congestion, short turnarounds and each club's injury record from last season and the current one.
Arsenal deliberately bolstered their depth during the summer window. While the club flirted with marquee signings such as Vinícius Júnior and Julián Álvarez, the actual arrivals 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 lengthy injury list last season, and the hope is that a deeper bench will mitigate similar problems this term. The combined market value of Arsenal's named substitutes in Premier League matches this season averages around £367 million. No other side approaches that figure.
It is worth noting that Transfermarkt valuations tend to be conservative; Premier League clubs typically pay roughly 36% above these estimates, which would push Arsenal's bench value closer to £500 million in real‑world terms. By contrast, the three newly promoted clubs—Hull City, Coventry City and Ipswich Town—register the lowest average bench values. Mid‑table side Brentford presents an interesting case: sitting just outside the traditional "big six", their bench is valued at about £129 million, indicating a respectable pool of quality beyond the starters. Market value alone does not tell the whole story, however.
To gauge the practical usefulness of these alternatives we examined actual substitute performance. For every player currently registered to a Premier League club we measured output when entering league matches as a sub over the past two full seasons and the current one.
To prevent a player who scores a single goal in a ten‑minute cameo from ranking disproportionately high, goals and assists per 90 minutes are weighted toward the league average based on the size of each player's substitute sample. When looking at goal involvements per 90 minutes, Arsenal rank second only to Brighton & Hove Albion. In raw totals, the Gunners lead the league, having contributed 27 goals and assists across 4,340 substitute minutes since the start of last season—an adjusted rate of roughly 0.54 goal involvements per 90 minutes.
The upcoming schedule after the international break is notoriously demanding, and Arsenal will likely need contributions from the entire squad. Yet depth is only valuable if managers actually deploy it. To assess utilisation, we ranked every player by total Premier League minutes and split them into three tiers. Tottenham Hotspur, for example, have already allocated a relatively high share of minutes beyond their core eleven, despite competing on fewer fronts than some rivals.
Manchester United's core eleven command over 88% of the team's minutes, a figure only eclipsed by Bournemouth and Everton. Both clubs appear well‑equipped on paper, but their managers have yet to fully trust their rotational options. In contrast, Arsenal and Manchester City have seen players ranked 12th‑22nd contribute roughly 15% of total minutes, suggesting a more balanced distribution of playing time. To test the resilience of each squad, we simulated a scenario in which the entire first XI is unavailable due to injury.
Using Premier League playing‑time data to identify the players most commonly trusted as starters, we constructed a standardised first XI for each club and then assembled a second XI from the remaining roster. Arsenal's modelled first XI carries an estimated value of £580 million, while their second XI is worth about £536 million—meaning they retain roughly 92% of the first‑team's estimated value even when all eleven starters are replaced.
Manchester City, by comparison, see a drop of ¤428.2 million between first and second XI, largely because the departure of Erling Haaland from the starting line‑up creates a steep value cliff. Two clubs—Aston Villa and Hull City—actually possess a second XI that is more valuable than their usage‑based first XI, reflecting late‑window transfer activity and the integration of new arrivals under managers Unai Emery and Sergej Jakirović.
Depth problems tend to surface when a specific position lacks adequate cover. We therefore broke every squad down into ten distinct roles: 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 Arsenal, despite their overall strength, show a glaring weakness on the left wing after the departures of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. Liverpool's left flank is even more depleted following the sale of Mohamed Salah. The poorest positional depth across the league is found in attacking midfield, where Brighton, Crystal Palace and Newcastle struggle, often operating without a traditional number 10.
Everton rank 20th for centre‑forward depth, scoring just 36.1 points after a failed pursuit of Folarin Balogun. This does not imply that their starting striker, Thierno Barry, is the league's worst, but rather that the quality of his alternatives is markedly lower than that of other clubs. When looking at overall squad balance, the Premier League champions (Manchester City) are among the most well‑rounded, with only Aston Villa edging them out in the pure Squad Depth Score, which measures the strength of alternatives relative to the first team. Recent departures of players such as Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martínez have narrowed the gap between starters and rotational options for some clubs.
Youth can also provide genuine first‑team alternatives. Our model includes 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 valued at £229.5 million. These are largely home‑grown or recently purchased talents such as Willian Estêncio and Geovany Quenda.
Manchester City rank second with a youth value of £190.9 million, followed by Brighton (£179.1m), Manchester United (£177.1m) and Bournemouth (£159.5m). However, value does not always translate to minutes played. Brighton and Manchester United rank in the top five for minutes logged by young players, whereas Manchester City’s youngsters have seen only 257 minutes, and Arsenal’s two promising prospects have accumulated 282 minutes—still more than Leeds United's solitary minute.
Finally, we ran a simulation that removed each member of a club's first XI one by one, 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 absent.
Unsurprisingly, goalkeepers dominate the list of critical losses, with Brighton's Bart Verbruggen identified as the single biggest blow to any team. Among outfield players, Aston Villa's youngster George Hemmings, Bournemouth's Adrien Truffert and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton emerge as the most consequential absences for their respective clubs. The full squad‑depth profile for each club—including second‑XI market value, strongest and weakest positions, bench impact and preparedness for upcoming fixture congestion—can be explored on the interactive platform.
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