- Published
Mikel Arteta may be attempting to rebrand them "finishers" but there's only one phrase in the footballing lexicon to sum up today's focus: super subs.
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Arteta → publish → focus
Yes, we're looking for those players renowned for making a devastating impact off the bench, those guaranteed game-changers a manager turns to when in desperate need of a goal.
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manager → look → goal
First, an honorary mention for some who missed out, such as one-season wonder Adam le Fondre, who holds the record for the most goals off the bench in a single Premier League campaign - five of his eight came in a three-game spell in January 2013.
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five → miss → January
Hernan Crespo boasts the best goals-per-game ratio but his six in 16 substitute appearances for Chelsea represents a small sample size, likewise ex-Norwich and Leicester forward Mark Robins with five in 14 outings as a replacement.
To make the all-time top 10 Premier League super subs, players need to have consistently delivered throughout their careers, providing goals and assists.
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players → boast → goals
So here we go, I've ranked mine below - you can have your say in the comments, too.
10.
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Theo Walcott, replaced on 168 occasions, holds the record as the most subbed off player in Premier League history.
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Walcott → replace → history
Yet it's his impact coming on to the pitch we're interested in here.
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we → come → pitch
Bursting on to the top-flight scene as an explosive teenager, the flying forward was often used by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to stretch defences with his pace and movement - a lactic acid-inducing sight for flailing full-backs.
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forward → burst → backs
The England international pieced together an impressive substitute CV throughout his Premier League career.
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international → piece → career
No-one has more than Walcott's 14 assists as a sub - Ryan Giggs and Marc Albrighton are level - while he also scored 10 goals as a replacement across his time with the Gunners, Everton and Southampton.
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It puts him fourth on the list for overall goal contributions off the bench.
9.
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This was a toss up between Victor Anichebe and Divock Origi, with both forwards contributing exactly half of all their Premier League goals as a substitute.
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Ex-Everton, West Brom and Sunderland striker Anichebe edges it having notched a couple more - a tally of 13 placing the former Nigeria international in joint-eighth on the all-time list - while he also chipped in with five assists off the bench.
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Roman Pavlyuchenko was also unlucky to miss out - 45% of his 20 Premier League goals came as a substitute for Tottenham.
8.
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There's a good case for Danny Welbeck, who as the only current player in the top three, with 19 goals, still has time to catch those above him.
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Welbeck was a goalscoring sub at Manchester United and Arsenal but perfected the art on the south coast, with 12 of his tally coming during six years with Brighton.
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12 → perfect → Brighton
The 35-year-old is now at Chelsea but - with apologies to Danny - there is another former Blue whose stats demand a place on this list.
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Daniel Sturridge has two fewer substitute goals then Welbeck but has scored a slightly higher percentage of his overall Premier League tally as a sub - 22%.
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The former England man, who played for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton, Liverpool and West Brom in the top flight, was good for an assist, too.
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In fact, when you take his total goal contributions of 24, he provided at a more prolific rate than every substitute in Premier League history - bar Edin Dzeko and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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he → take → Dzeko
Richarlison matches Sturridge for minutes per goal contribution, but with eight fewer the Brazilian, perhaps harshly, misses out.
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Brazilian → match → eight
A World Cup and Champions League winner, one of the few trophies Olivier Giroud hasn't got his hands on is the Premier League title despite a knack for scoring important goals off the bench.
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Giroud → get → bench
The Frenchman is second on the all-time substitute scoring list, accounting for 21 of his 90 top-flight goals - that's almost a quarter - with only Dzeko, Solskjaer and Javier Hernandez boasting a better minutes-per-goal record as a sub.
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Dzeko → account → sub
Giroud honed his ability to make a late impact at Arsenal and Chelsea, making 103 substitute appearances in total across 10 seasons in the Premier League.
6.
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Tore Andre Flo was a menace for Premier League defenders not merely because of his tall, gangly frame but for the silky touches the Norwegian often showed with his giant boots.
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Flo scored 34% of his 38 Premier League goals as a substitute - the eighth-highest ratio for those with 20 top-flight goals or more, while he is also joint-eighth overall for goals from a substitute.
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The first of those came just three minutes into his Chelsea debut in 1997, and it was with the Blues he enjoyed his best Premier League output before a later stint at Sunderland.
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he → come → Sunderland
Having also provided three assists as a sub, he ranks fifth for minutes-per-goal involvements, contributing to his side scoring once every 78 minutes on average when used off the bench.
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side → provide → bench
Of all players in Premier League history to have scored at least 10 goals as a substitute, only one - Sergio Aguero, and it feels a stretch to call the competition's sixth-highest scorer a super sub - has netted at a more prolific rate than Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez.
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feels → score → Hernandez
He has 19 in 78 sub appearances, a rate of 0.24 per game, with 36% of all his Premier League goals coming after he started on the bench - predominantly for Manchester United but also later in his career at West Ham.
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He netted on average every 88 minutes when used as a replacement.
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Indeed, only Jermain Defoe and Giroud have scored more goals as a substitute than the Mexican, while he sits among a leading group of seven - including Defoe - who have scored five match-winners as a sub.
4.
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Edin Dzeko
Aged 40, Edin Dzeko is still scoring goals for Bundesliga outfit Schalke.
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Dzeko → age → Schalke
His record as a substitute in the Premier League, however, remains among the greatest.
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record → remain → greatest
Dzeko netted 50 Premier League goals for Manchester City, with more than a quarter of those coming as a substitute.
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quarter → net → substitute
Only Aguero and Hernandez, of players to have scored at least 10 goals as a sub, have better goals-per-game ratios than him.
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Aguero → score → him
When you break it down to minutes per goal, Dzeko is level at the top with Solskjaer - scoring on average every 83 minutes.
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Dzeko → break → Solskjaer
He stands alone once you add assists, too - 17 goal contributions during 56 top-flight games as a replacement means Dzeko returned on average every 63 minutes.
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Dzeko → stand → replacement
The most important of those goals, of course, came in stoppage time against QPR on the final day of the 2012 season.
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important → come → season
Everyone remembers the Aguero moment, but it was substitute Dzeko's header two minutes earlier that levelled the game.
3.
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that → remember → game
…and 17 more, not listed.
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