While the Premier League Christmas schedule looks more forgiving in 2022/23, the Autumn calendar appears more congested.
Between Gameweeks 4 and 15, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will play Premier League and/or Champions League football twice a week, every week, except during the September international break.
Premier League managers will also be allowed to make five substitutions per game, two more than what we are used to seeing, which provides an added challenge for Fantasy bosses.
So, with rest and rotation perhaps biting harder and earlier in 2022/23, here we take a look at which players played the most minutes last season.
For only the third Premier League season ever, no outfield player managed to play every single minute of the 2021/22 campaign.
However, some came very close, as detailed below.
| Name | Team | Minutes |
| Matty Cash | Aston Villa | 3378 |
| Conor Coady | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3362 |
| Pontus Jansson | Brentford | 3321 |
| Teemu Pukki | Norwich City | 3258 |
| Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 3236 |
| Joao Cancelo | Manchester City | 3227 |
| Marc Guehi | Crystal Palace | 3223 |
| Moussa Sissoko | Watford | 3221 |
| James Ward-Prowse | Southampton | 3215 |
| Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | Tottenham Hotspur | 3196 |
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash only missed 42 minutes of Premier League action all season, while Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Conor Coady was just 58 minutes short.
In addition, the duo were the only outfield players to start all 38 Premier League matches.
| Name | Team | Starts |
| Matty Cash | Aston Villa | 38 |
| Conor Coady | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 |
| Pontus Jansson | Brentford | 37 |
| Teemu Pukki | Norwich City | 37 |
| Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 36 |
| Joao Cancelo | Manchester City | 36 |
| Marc Guehi | Crystal Palace | 36 |
| Moussa Sissoko | Watford | 36 |
| James Ward-Prowse | Southampton | 36 |
| Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | Tottenham Hotspur | 36 |
| Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | 36 |
Meanwhile, the ability of the big clubs to rotate their star-studded squads meant that only four players from the traditional ‘big six’ feature on the above lists – Harry Kane, Joao Cancelo, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Bukayo Saka – as they each racked up an impressive 36 Premier League starts.
A club-by-club breakdown is below, with the top few performers in each category included.
| Club | Most minutes played | Most starts |
| Arsenal | Gabriel (3065), Saka (3001), White (2880) | Saka (36), Gabriel (35), White, Odegaard (32) |
| Aston Villa | Cash (3378), Mings (3192), McGinn (3091) | Cash (38), Mings, McGinn (35) |
| Brentford | Jansson (3321), Norgaard (3056), Mbeumo (2915) | Jansson (37), Norgaard (35), Mbeumo (34) |
| Brighton and Hove Albion | Cucurella (3091), Veltman (2883), Trossard (2816) | Cucurella (35), Veltman (33), Trossard (32) |
| Burnley | McNeil (3126), Tarkowski (3107), Brownhill (2964) | McNeil, Tarkowski (35), Brownhill (32) |
| Chelsea | Rudiger (3035), Thiago Silva (2673), Mount (2391) | Rudiger (34), Thiago Silva (28), Mount (27) |
| Crystal Palace | Guehi (3223), Mitchell (3107), Andersen (2924) | Guehi (36), Mitchell (35), Gallagher (33) |
| Everton | Keane (2796), Coleman (2656), Doucoure (2542) | Keane (31), Coleman (30), Doucoure (29) |
| Leeds United | Raphinha (2925), Dallas (2920), Harrison (2664) | Raphinha, Dallas (34), Harrison (32) |
| Leicester City | Tielemans (2646), Soyuncu (2497), Maddison (2496) | Tielemans (29), Soyuncu, Maddison (28) |
| Liverpool | van Dijk (3060), Alexander-Arnold (2854), Mane (2830) | van Dijk (34), Alexander-Arnold, Mane (32) |
| Manchester City | Cancelo (3227), Rodri (2885), Bernardo Silva (2865) | Cancelo (36), Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Laporte (33) |
| Manchester United | Fernandes (3122), Maguire (2521), Ronaldo (2476) | Fernandes (35), Maguire, McTominay (28) |
| Newcastle United | Saint-Maximin (2836), Joelinton (2590), Schar (2161) | Saint-Maximin (31), Joelinton (30), Schar (25) |
| Norwich City | Pukki (3258), Hanley (2987), Aarons (2892) | Pukki (37), Hanley (33), Aarons (32) |
| Southampton | Ward-Prowse (3215), Salisu (2980), Romeu (2901) | Ward-Prowse (36), Romeu (34), Salisu (33) |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Kane (3236), Hojbjerg (3196), Dier (3072) | Kane, Hojbjerg (36), Dier, Son (35) |
| Watford | Sissoko (3221), Dennis (2597), Cathcart (2417) | Sissoko (36), Dennis (30), Cathcart, King (27) |
| West Ham United | Rice (3183), Soucek (3068), Bowen (3000) | Rice (35), Soucek, Bowen, Antonio (34) |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Coady (3362), Moutinho (2982), Saiss (2706) | Coady (38), Moutinho (34), Neves, Saiss (31) |
* Outfield players only
Saka, Raphinha, Bruno Fernandes, James Ward-Prowse, Son Heung-min and Kane are some of the more Fantasy relevant names to appear in the midfield and forward positions, along with Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio.
The West Ham United duo racked up an impressive 34 Premier League starts each, despite a demanding Europa League campaign that saw the Hammers reach the last four. In fact, across the season, it’s worth noting that David Moyes kept the most settled Premier League starting XI, making just 1.6 changes on average per match.
At Leicester City, we should see improvement in the above numbers next term with the Foxes free from any European distractions.
Marc Guehi, meanwhile, needed no time to settle at Crystal Palace, racking up 3223 minutes in 36 starts, while it’s no surprise that Coady tops the chart for minutes played at Wolves after missing just one game since they returned to the Premier League in 2018/19.
Naturally, all of this analysis comes with the caveat that we are entering into unknown territory next season.
However, it’s clear that rotation could be rife both during games and between them in 2022/23, especially at the top teams competing in Europe, so which players do you think stand the best chance of not only starting but finishing them?
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