Feature

English talents shine from the start for top six

12 Aug 2019
Tammy Abraham and Marcus Rashford

On the Premier League's opening weekend, 22 English starters featured for last season's top six

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Marcus Rashford's double for Manchester United capped a successful opening Premier League weekend for English talents at last season's top-six clubs.

The striker was one of 22 English players who started for Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.

English starters for top six in MW1

Arsenal
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Aged 21), Calum Chambers (24), Reiss Nelson (19)
Chelsea
Mason Mount (20), Ross Barkley (25), Tammy Abraham (21)
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold (20), Joe Gomez (22), Jordan Henderson (29)
Manchester City
Kyle Walker (29), John Stones (25), Raheem Sterling (24)
Manchester United
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (21), Harry Maguire (26), Luke Shaw (24), Jesse Lingard (26), Marcus Rashford (21)
Tottenham Hotspur
Kyle Walker-Peters (22), Danny Rose (29), Harry Winks (23), Harry Kane (26)

That is the highest total of English starters at those clubs since 2016/17. All 22 were under 30 years of age, with an average of 23 years and 351 days.

That included two Arsenal teenagers, Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock, who played in the 1-0 win at Newcastle United.

There was also a Premier League debutant in Mason Mount, who came through the Chelsea Academy alongside fellow first-team starter Tammy Abraham.

Seven strikes

Rashford's double contributed to seven goals by English players at those clubs in Matchweek 1, with Raheem Sterling netting a hat-trick in Man City's 5-0 triumph at West Ham United and Harry Kane clinching a win for Spurs over Aston Villa with a late double.

That total is the most by English players at those clubs in a Matchweek 1 since 26 December 2017, when Sterling and Kane contributed four of the nine goals netted by English top-six players. 

Across the 2019/20 fixtures, 83 English players were among the 220 starters, the highest number on an opening weekend since 85 Englishmen started on Matchweek 1 of 2010/11. 

Burnley and Southampton led the way with seven English players apiece at Turf Moor. 

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