Premier League subs rule: PL clubs are reconsidering, and are expected to re-vote on, whether or not to allow five substitutions per team per game during the 2020-21 season, according to a report from Sky Sports.
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The PL’s 20 clubs previously voted to revert back to the traditional three-subs rule following the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. Teams were allowed to make five substitutions, and field benches of nine players, upon returning from the COVID-19-induced shutdown.
Now, just three weeks later and two weeks before the start of the new season, all parties are said to be reconsidering the Premier League subs rule. A new vote is expected to be taken at a meeting on Sept. 3.
Presumably, managers and/or players have come to the firsthand realization that the 2020-21 season is going to be a long, physical grind and that, perhaps, they cannot endure a full 38-game PL season — plus domestic cup and European competitions — in a condensed window. There’s also the fact that players only just finished last season four weeks ago, and many were back in preseason camp barely two weeks later. The combination of wear-and-tear injuries and confirmed cases of COVID-19 could leave many teams shorthanded far too frequently under the traditional Premier League subs rule.
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Should the PL clubs reverse course and opt to use five subs again in 2020-21, perhaps fewer injuries will be sustained, and nothing would increase the quality of play more than many of the world’s best and brightest talents being fit and available to play.