How will the World Cup impact your Premier League Big5 picks?
The 2022 World Cup was one of the most dramatic ever, but with focus now turning back to club football, just how big of an impact did the mid-season tournament have on the Premier League?
Arsenal lost star striker Gabriel Jesus after he picked up an injury and teammate Richarlison returned to Tottenham with a hamstring issue.
In contrast, Chelsea boss Graham Potter may be able to call upon a rejuvenated Hakim Ziyech after his run to the semis with Morocco and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford impressed despite his limited England involvement.
It’s time to take a closer look at World Cup minutes played by Premier League players and how you could use this info to your advantage in Big5 to win a share of £1,000+!
Big5 is our super simple weekly PL prediction game… call the results of five selected games, answer three match-related ‘Boosters’ and if you finish in the top 25%, you win a cash prize! Did we mention entries are only £5?!
The deadline for our next game is 2:45pm on Boxing Day… let’s get into it.
World Cup Minutes League Table
Here are the five matches you’re tasked with predicting in Gameweek 17:
Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest
Now, take a closer look at the collective minutes played by stars at those clubs:
Manchester United - 3,403 mins played
Chelsea - 3,128 mins played
Liverpool - 1,788 mins played
Arsenal - 1,700 mins played
Aston Villa - 1,216 mins played
West Ham - 1,156 mins played
Leicester - 1,001 mins played
Nottinghamm Forest - 867 mins played
Bournemouth - 495 mins played
Newcastle - 454 mins played
Winners - Newcastle
It’s hard to look at the data and not think Newcastle came out of the World Cup in great shape compared to their competitors.
Eddie Howe’s side went into the break sitting in third having lost one league game, only Arsenal and Manchester City scored more than their 29, and the joint-best Premier League defence having leaked just 11 in 15 matches.
So things were already looking up on Tyneside, but when you also take into account Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes all played limited roles in Qatar, they should come back firing against Leicester!
Stat: Newcastle have won three of their last five away to Leicester.
Honourable Mention - Aston Villa
Villa rank higher than maybe expected on the list, but 690 of those minutes are due to heroic Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was their only player that made it past the Round of 16.
That means Unai Emery, who has won two of his first three in charge at Villa Park, has had ample time to get the majority of his squad back into training and drill his tactics.
They had a confidence boosting friendly victory over Chelsea, albeit against a very young, inexperienced Blues side, and they’ll be looking up the table, rather than down.
Stat: Villa sit sixth in the home Premier League form table. Only Manchester United and Newcastle have conceded fewer goals on home turf!
Losers - Chelsea
Morocco talisman Ziyech has been a shining light for Chelsea at the World Cup, but he has only made five Premier League appearances so far this season, and they may cash in on his form in the January transfer window.
Five Chelsea players had some sort of role in the quarter-finals, including Thiago Silva who is no spring chicken, while Mateo Kovacic guided Croatia to the semis.
Potter has endured a tough start to life at Stamford Bridge and the last thing he needed was his squad to come back leggy… one to keep an eye on!
Stat: Brentford, Fulham and Leeds have all scored more home league goals than Chelsea (10) this season.
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