Which Premier League club has relied most heavily this season on their leading goalscorer, or perhaps a solid centre-back, or maybe a full-back who is integral to the manager’s system? Alternatively, could it be that an injury crisis in a squad means very few players have consistently made the team sheet since the games began in August?
Whatever the story, with the vast majority of the 20 clubs now having nine league matches left (only Crystal Palace and Newcastle United have 10 remaining), The Athletic has taken a look at which outfield players have played the most minutes for each club in 2024-25 to explore what that tells us about the team, player or the season overall.
Arsenal
William Saliba (2,366 minutes played)
The French centre-back being a virtual ever-present (he has missed one game each through suspension and injury, and an hour of another when sent off) is no surprise. His partnership with Gabriel is the bedrock of a side on track to have the league’s best defensive record for the second season running. They provide the solidity that allows Arsenal to press high and suffocate the opposition.
It has been the way with Saliba for the past three seasons, barring the back injury that saw him miss the final two months of 2022-23. Arsenal’s title bid crumbled in his absence.
Manager Mikel Arteta sought to avoid a repeat of that dependency on him by signing versatile defenders who could cover across the back line. While centre-back is one of the few areas where injuries have not severely impacted Arsenal this season, the disruption at full-back means Arteta has been unable to rest Saliba.
The regular presence of Saliba, who turns 24 on Monday, underlines Arsenal’s strength but it also highlights the difficulties they have in rotating their best players.
Jordan Campbell
Saliba’s consistency allows Arsenal to close down opponents high up the pitch (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Aston Villa
Youri Tielemans (2,496 minutes)
Arguably Villa’s player of the season, Tielemans has started all 29 of their league games this season. After a slow start to his career at the club last season, Tielemans has adjusted supremely to manager Unai Emery’s midfield demands. The Belgium international can play as a No 10 (attacking midfielder) or, as he has more regularly this season, further back in a double pivot, where he can use his precise passing to open up opposing midfields.
Injuries to Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley mean several regular partners have played alongside him and though he has been managing a knee issue himself, he has been available for every match.
The 27-year-old is important to Emery’s system, often receiving under pressure in the side’s build-up and then passing the ball through. This season, only four players in the Premier League have completed more through balls than his 17 and he has made the ninth-most touches in the division.
Jacob Tanswell
Bournemouth
Milos Kerkez (2,541 minutes)
Kerkez has been an ever-present, starting all 29 league games and completing 25, including each of the past 17.
His importance to Andoni Iraola’s side cannot be understated. As the graph below shows, Bournemouth have primarily attacked down their left flank this season, with the axis between Dean Huijsen at left centre-back, wing-back Kerkez and winger Antoine Semenyo proving crucial.
The minutes-played stat is also a testament to Kerkez’s overall fitness record. The 21-year-old Hungary international, who has contributed two goals and five assists in the league this season, was also available for 31 of Bournemouth’s 38 league games in 2023-24, with two of the matches he missed being due to a red-card suspension. Before that, he missed only one league game in his only season at AZ of the Dutch Eredivisie in 2022-23, also because of a ban, and started the other 33.
Kerkez’s reliability has been vital for two more reasons. Bournemouth’s backup left-back Julio Soler only joined them in January, played one game, and was then unavailable for a month as he represented Argentina at the Under-20 South American Championship. They have also had limited consistency at right-back, with midfielder Lewis Cook and centre-back James Hill filling in there following long-term injuries to captain Adam Smith and summer signing Julian Araujo.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Brentford
Nathan Collins (2,610 minutes)
Collins and fellow defender Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool are the only outfield players to have played every minute in the Premier League this season. After a mixed 2023-24 debut year at Brentford, which was disrupted by an ankle injury and an awful performance against previous club Wolves that knocked his confidence, Collins has become head coach Thomas Frank’s first-choice centre-back.
The Republic of Ireland international is a threat from set pieces, with two goals in his 29 90-minute appearances, and deserves credit for helping Keane Lewis-Potter flourish in the unfamiliar role of left-back while Rico Henry has been out for all but one league appearance through injury. Collins has become a reliable defender and does not turn 24 until the end of next month, which suggests he still has a lot of room to grow.
Just behind Collins on 2,605 minutes is Bryan Mbeumo. After years of underperforming in front of goal, the Cameroon international has become a world-class finisher and made everybody forget about Ivan Toney’s summer departure.
Jay Harris
Brighton
Jan Paul van Hecke (2,331 minutes)
In his fifth Brighton season, Van Hecke has kicked on to be a key figure in the centre of defence.
A record of twenty-six starts from 29 league matches illustrates Fabian Hurzeler’s faith during the head coach’s first year in charge. Van Hecke has churned out consistent performances and recently scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 home win against fellow European qualification hopefuls Fulham.
Van Hecke’s minutes total would have been less had it not been for the injury bug biting his fellow defenders, limiting Hurzeler’s opportunities to give the 24-year-old Netherlands international a breather. Adam Webster’s hamstring problem caused him to miss 12 league matches from October to January, Igor Julio suffered a season-ending hamstring tear in January and captain Lewis Dunk has sat out the past six games with damaged ribs.
Andy Naylor
Chelsea
Moises Caicedo (2,546 minutes)
Cole Palmer might be Chelsea’s best player, but Caicedo has a strong case to be considered the least replaceable in Enzo Maresca’s squad.
Their sole high-level specialist defensive midfielder, he brings balance to Maresca’s team, screening the back three against counter-attacks — often alongside an inverting full-back — and directing possession through and around opponents’ pressure.
Not only has Caicedo started all 29 league matches, but Maresca has also only substituted the 23-year-old Ecuador international five times. Without him patrolling the heart of the pitch and snapping into tackles, huge gaps have a bad habit of opening up in the middle of the Chelsea team for sides to exploit.
Chelsea have moved to add some cover for Caicedo with Dario Essugo set to sign from Sporting CP in the summer but until then, expect him to play whenever he is fit.
Simon Johnson
Crystal Palace
Marc Guehi (2,430 minutes)
Leading the way for Palace, minutes-wise and otherwise, is (unsurprisingly) their captain Guehi.
The 24-year-old is a key component of manager Oliver Glasner’s trademark back three, alongside Maxence Lacroix, who plays centrally, and Chris Richards on the right. He has only missed one league match this season, against Southampton on December 29, due to a suspension for picking up five yellow cards.
Guehi, now an undisputed starter for England, is utterly integral for his club, underlined by him playing 90 minutes in every one of their seven cup games this season (four in the Carabao Cup and three in the FA Cup).
With his contract expiring in the summer of 2026, Palace must make serious efforts to tie their skipper down on a new deal, especially given the depth and quality in the squad behind Guehi is lacking.
Max Mathews
Guehi’s contract expires in 15 months (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Everton
James Tarkowski (2,602 minutes)
Everton’s Mr Dependable in recent years, Tarkowski is yet to miss a Premier League game since joining them as a free agent in July 2022, logging the full quota of minutes (3,240) in each of the past two completed seasons, and again topping the charts among Everton’s outfield players in this one.
That durability is one of the reasons they signed the former Burnley defender in the first place. There was a feeling at the club that too many of their squad were missing key games and that recruitment should focus on new players to change that pattern.
Now 32, Tarkowski has forged a successful partnership with 22-year-old rising star Jarrad Branthwaite at the heart of the Everton defence. As the senior partner in that pairing — and the captain when Seamus Coleman is not playing, which has been for most matches this season — he is the leader of the back line and often a key figure in both penalty areas. Only three clubs (leaders Liverpool, third-placed Nottingham Forest and Arsenal in second) have more Premier League clean sheets this season than Everton’s nine (tied with Palace and Newcastle United).
Tarkowski’s signature goes down as one of now outgoing director of football Kevin Thelwell’s best pieces of business in his three years at Goodison.
Patrick Boyland
Fulham
Antonee Robinson (2,538 minutes)
In an era when squad rotation is king, defensive partnerships are still built on familiarity — and developing that understanding requires game time together.
So it makes sense that Fulham’s current back line, their most solid for years, has relied on left-back Robinson and centre-back Calvin Bassey (who is second to him among the squad this season with 2,444 minutes). Together, they have formed a slick left-sided partnership with winger Alex Iwobi, the only other Fulham outfielder to register more than 2,000 minutes in the league this season (2,368).
Robinson has been a consistent marauding presence on Fulham’s left, racking up a career-high 10 assists in the league, knowing he has the pace and composure of Bassey covering him. Defensively, the United States international has been aggressive, too, ranking in the Premier League’s top 10 for tackles (77), and his high level of availability makes him invaluable to coach Marco Silva — he has only missed four league matches since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Justin Guthrie
Robinson has 10 Premier League assists this season (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Ipswich
Leif Davis (2,463 minutes)
Kieran McKenna has tweaked the makeup and formation of his back line multiple times this season but left-back Davis has remained a near-constant. The 25-year-old has missed just one Premier League game — and that was due to injury.
Left-back was the only position Ipswich did not attempt to ‘upgrade’ in a busy summer before their Premier League return. Davis’ attacking output was integral to their successive promotions, providing 32 assists across those seasons in League One and then the Championship.
Conor Townsend was brought in as much-needed cover (Ipswich failed to score in two of the three games Davis was sidelined for last season) and has proved a capable deputy, particularly impressing in February’s 1-1 draw away to now Champions League quarter-finalists Aston Villa. However, he has failed to usurp Davis who, despite his attacking impact waning with Ipswich being on the back foot far more this season, has remained McKenna’s first-choice.
Ali Rampling
Leicester
Victor Kristiansen (2,282 minutes)
This probably says more about what Steve Cooper and Ruud van Nistelrooy, his successor as Leicester manager, have thought about their other options at left-back this season, rather than Kristiansen’s performances.
Cooper had wanted to bolster his options with a left-sided central defender after being hired in the summer but was unsuccessful. Luke Thomas was an option often overlooked until recently, when he has been played as a third central defender.
James Justin, who has played the second-most minutes (only two fewer than Kristiansen), can also play left-back but with Ricardo Pereira out injured for most of the season, Leicester had few options at right-back until they signed Woyo Coulibaly in January. Since then, the newcomer has hardly contributed.
Leicester’s overall recruitment has been poor for some time and has contributed hugely to their struggles back in the Premier League this season.
Rob Tanner
Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk (2,610 minutes)
One of only two ever-present outfield players in the 2024-25 Premier League with Brentford’s Collins, the commanding Dutchman has marshalled his troops with both class and conviction throughout.
New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has spoken about Van Dijk’s “true” leadership qualities and how even he was surprised by his countryman’s attributes after he arrived at Anfield last summer. The 33-year-old remains the best defender in the division and his meticulous approach to rest and recovery means he has been available for every minute of the top-flight campaign — a dream for his manager.
Gregg Evans
Van Dijk is one of only two outfielders to play every Premier League minute this season (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Manchester City
Erling Haaland (2,483 minutes)
Haaland is always somebody who plays a lot of minutes for City.
They try to manage his game time by taking him off early in matches once things are wrapped up, but if games are not wrapped up then he generally plays the whole thing, and he is rarely left on the bench for a Premier League fixture.
In his 2022-23 debut season at City, only Rodri played than him among their outfield players, last season six did — but that was because he had a few injuries along the way. This time, he has stayed fit and City have rarely had games wrapped up at any point, let alone with 20 or so minutes left, due to their struggles.
Haaland has done most of the heavy lifting in front of goal again this season — he has scored 21 times in the league, next highest is Phil Foden with seven, then defender Josko Gvardiol with five. So it’s a good job he has stayed fit.
Sam Lee
Manchester United
Diogo Dalot (2,487 minutes)
Partway through United’s recent 3-0 win against Leicester, it was spotted that Dalot had a Whoop wristband on. The fitness tracker is one of several tools the defender uses to monitor his sleep and recovery levels.
Dalot is the United player who takes the adage, ‘Your greatest ability is availability’ and stretches it to the nth degree, having played in multiple positions throughout this season under Erik ten Hag and now Ruben Amorim. The 26-year-old cites Portuguese countryman and former United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo’s example on how to avoid injury and better optimise himself.
Last season, Dalot led United’s outfield players with 4,364 minutes in all competitions, 79 more than his famously tireless club captain Bruno Fernandes.
Hardly missing out on selection through injury can be a double-edged sword, though. His crossing, which can be erratic at the best of times, can become more irregular when he becomes physically or mentally exhausted, to the chagrin of some. Still, his work rate and availability make him a valued asset to coaches and colleagues alike.
Carl Anka
Dalot wore a Whoop wristband against Leicester (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Newcastle United
Bruno Guimaraes (2,431 minutes)
Are you kidding? Newcastle have just won their first domestic trophy in 70 years and you expect me to a) put my bottle of cider down and b) work?
OK, fine. Bruno is superman, a legend. He is a god among men. He is …
OK, OK. SORRY. I’LL DO IT PROPERLY.
Those 2,431 minutes are the sound of Newcastle’s heartbeat. That’s what Guimaraes is. He is the tempo-setter.
Other players in the squad may have had more impressive seasons in terms of pure form — Alexander Isak, Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali — but Guimaraes is an ever-present in the Premier League (he did miss one of their 10 cup ties through suspension) and everything flows through him.
He is also the team’s captain. Not a natural leader in the typical sense but rather through example; availability, spikiness, always looking to move the ball forward and make something happen, including winning free kicks. And he is aggressive in his sense of adventure.
To paraphrase all that, he’s b****y brilliant. Now please excuse me, I’ve got a party to arrange.
George Caulkin
Nottingham Forest
Ola Aina (2,535 minutes)
Simple consistency has been one of the mainstays of Forest’s unexpected challenge for Champions League qualification — and nobody better personifies that trait than Aina.
Forest have had some good fortune with injuries, with Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare the only significant long-term absentees, both early in the season. Fellow key figures Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo and Chris Wood have all started 28 of the 29 league games but Aina has begun them all, and is among the most reliable figures in the squad. His pace allows him to add to Forest’s attacking threat down their right side, while also still completing his defensive duties at right back.
The 28-year-old London-born Nigeria international fits perfectly into coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s approach, with Forest looking to combine discipline and organisation with a desire to counter-attack at explosive speed.
Paul Taylor
Southampton
Kyle Walker-Peters (2,382 minutes)
Even in a good Southampton season, you might expect Walker-Peters to top the charts for minutes played. But in times as challenging as these at St Mary’s, the best players prove their worth and Walker-Peters is exactly that: Southampton’s best player. The 27-year-old is reliable and versatile, a Premier League-quality operator in either full-back position.
As bo Russell Martin and current head coach Ivan Juric have tinkered with their defence, both in personnel and whether it’s a back three or a four, Walker-Peters has been one of the few certainties. Injuries, suspensions and fallings-out have prevented centre-back Jack Stephens and central midfielder Flynn Downes from racking up the same number of minutes.
With his contract set to expire this summer, relegation-bound Southampton are getting the most out of Walker-Peters while they can.
Nancy Froston
Tottenham
Pedro Porro (2,278 minutes)
It is remarkable that Porro has played the most minutes for Spurs in the Premier League this season. At first glance, their right-back’s total does not seem that impressive compared to some others on this list but do not forget he has made 41 club appearances in all competitions and also played 90 minutes for Spain three times.
When Tottenham were grappling with an injury crisis, Porro was the only member of Ange Postecoglou’s first-choice back four who escaped unharmed. It is only in the past month, with the return of Destiny Udogie and the emergence of Djed Spence, that the 25-year-old has been able to get a rest.
Porro’s levels have dropped off this season but that is understandable given the constant demands on him to play every single game and the way Postecoglou expects his full-backs to stay high up the pitch.
Dejan Kulusevski is second on the list for Spurs at 2,155 minutes. He is recovering from a foot injury but up until the beginning of March, had featured in all of their fixtures this season across four competitions, which underlines their overreliance on him to offer creativity and goals.
Jay Harris
Pedro Porro has avoided joining Spurs’ long list of casualties (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
West Ham
Maximilian Kilman (2,539 minutes)
It was in the 2-0 away win against Crystal Palace in August, just his second league game for the club, where Kilman showed why West Ham’s then-head coach Julen Lopetegui had been keen to be reunited last summer with a player he’d managed at Wolves.
The centre-back’s offensive attributes were clear when striding up the field to assist captain Jarrod Bowen on the game’s second goal. It was a passage of play that his defensive predecessors Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma would have struggled to replicate.
Although the 27-year-old has since struggled with consistency, he is comfortable with playing out from the back. Kilman’s partnership with loanee Jean-Clair Todibo has potential and is more settled, as opposed to when he plays alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Most West Ham fans were puzzled at Kilman’s acquisition from Wolves for around £40million ($52m) but he has been a solid addition.
Roshane Thomas
Wolves
Rayan Ait-Nouri (2,393 minutes)
Ait-Nouri sitting at the top of this particular tree for Wolves tells us a couple of things.
First, that he is one of their best players. For all his defensive deficiencies — he does not stop enough crosses and is sometimes suspect positionally — he has the raw talent and repertoire of tricks to change a game in his side’s favour, especially in the system favoured by new head coach Vitor Pereira, in which Wolves’ wing-backs operate first and foremost as wingers.
But it also tells us that the decision to loan Hugo Bueno to Dutch club Feyenoord was a risky one, as it left Ait-Nouri without a natural understudy. Rodrigo Gomes has done well when called upon to play either wing-back role but the 21-year-old remains inexperienced, Toti is much better when used on the left of the back three and Nelson Semedo and Matt Doherty are more effective on the right flank.
Steve Madeley
(Top photos: Caicedo, left, and Guimaraes; Getty Images)
