PL sides ranked by average age of starting XI

Matt Stead

The figures for this list were kindly collated by the excellent Experimental 3-6-1. They’ve gone into much more depth with regards to the average ages of Premier League starting XIs, and even go down as far as League Two. And they have nifty graphics. Give them some love.

So, without further ado, let’s rank the 20 Premier League sides by the youngest average age of their starting XIs this season. Kids first…

 

20: Tottenham (average age of 25.7)
Their youngest starter is Dele Alli, at a mere 20 years of age. Their oldest starter, 33-year-old Michel Vorm, is hardly flirting with retirement. He is one of only two players over 30 to have made a Premier League appearance for Tottenham this season. The other is fellow goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Of the 50 youngest Premier League starting XIs this season, Tottenham account for 21.

 

=18. Liverpool (26.4)
And Liverpool are second on that list of the 50 youngest starting XIs, Jurgen Klopp naming nine of the youngest so far. Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s 90-minute cameo in January’s draw with Manchester United will go down in history, the 18-year-old shackling Anthony Martial and pals. Liverpool’s oldest starter is James Milner, who is still only 31.

 

=18. Southampton (26.4)
But Liverpool are joint-second place for the youngest average age of starting XIs in the Premier League. Their EFL Cup conquerors and feeder club are alongside them, with the departed Jose Fonte their oldest starter at 33. Ronald Koeman’s best mate Josh Sims was handed his full debut at just 19.

 

17. Sunderland (27)
Despite David Moyes’ best efforts to reunite his Everton side a decade later, Sunderland remain the most evergreen of those battling relegation. Fourteen years separate their youngest starter, Jason Denayer, 21, from their oldest, John O’Shea, 35.

 

=14. Manchester United (27.3)
It will come as no surprise to learn that Marcus Rashford is Manchester United’s youngest starter this season. He only turned 19 in October. Pushing him on the swings in the playground and packing his peanut butter sandwiches is not Zlatandiana Jones, but Michael Carrick, who is a full four months older than the Swede.

 

=14. Arsenal (27.3)
Naw, isn’t that cute? Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger love each other so much that they have ensured that the average age of their respective Premier League starting XIs is the same. Wonderful. Alex Iwobi (20) is their youngest starter due to the sheer injustice of Jeff Reine-Adelaide not getting a Premier League game. Their elder statesman is 1982’s Petr Cech.

 

=14. Bournemouth (27.3)
Breaking up the Jose-Arsene lovefest is Eddie Howe, who continues the Premier League’s bizarre fetish for starting XIs with the average age of 27.3. Summer signing Lewis Cook was just 19 when he was handed his only Premier League appearance of the season on the opening day against Manchester United. Then there’s Artur Boruc, the 37-year-old boy wonder.

 

13. Middlesbrough (27.4)
A gold star to those of you who guessed that Adama Traore was Middlesbrough’s youngest Premier League starter this season. He pips fellow person Calum Chambers to the post by almost a full year. And not for the first time this season, Victor Valdes gets the better of Dimitrios Konstantopoulos. The Greek is the oldest member of the squad at 38, but is yet to even make the bench. Valdes, three years his junior, takes the crown.

 

=11. West Ham (27.6)
You had no idea that Edmilson Fernandes (20) was West Ham’s youngest starter of a Premier League game this season, did you? That Alvaro Arbeloa (34) is their oldest may well have escaped you too.

 

=11. Chelsea (27.6)
Comfortably top of the table they may be, but it will obviously devastate Antonio Conte that his Chelsea side are firmly entrenched in mid-table in the age stakes. They have the oldest youngest starter of any Premier League side in 24-year-old Thibaut Courtois. Their oldest is obviously John Terry (36), you fool.

 

=9. Swansea (27.9)
It would be weird if Jay Fulton (22) and Leon Britton (34) weren’t Swansea’s youngest and oldest Premier League starters of the season respectively.

 

=9. Hull (27.9)
Josh Tymon 
is the youngest player to have started a Premier League game this season, aged just 17. He makes Shuan Maloney, of 34 years and also one start, feel a little old.

 

8. Burnley (28.2)
No player has played more Premier League minutes for Burnley this season than Michael Keane, and the 24-year-old is also their youngest starter. And here’s to you, Paul Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know. And Jesus loves you because you are 37 and are still starting in the Premier League now and then.

 

7. Everton (28.3)
Tom Davies
with the good hair is Everton’s youngest Premier League starter this season, and by a decent margin. He is over one year younger than his closest challenger, 19-year-old Ademola Lookman Olajade Lookman. And you already know who their oldest starter is; Gareth Barry, at 36 – and twice Davies’ age – makes Phil Jagielka feel young again.

 

6. Leicester (28.4)
Is winter signing Wilfred Leicester’s youngest Premier League starter this campaign? At just 20 years old, Ndidi is. On the other end of the spectrum, the only thing surprising about the identity of the Foxes’ oldest starter of a game is that Claudio Ranieri once trusted Marcin Wasilewski to keep Romelu Lukaku and his Everton friends at bay. They lost, and the 36-year-old was summarily embarrassed.

 

5. Crystal Palace (28.5)
Nothing quite sums up Crystal Palace’s issues under both Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce as succinctly as their youngest starter of a Premier League game being Connor Wickham (23), and the oldest being Damien Delaney (35).

 

4. Manchester City (28.7)
Considering Manchester City’s insistence on employing full-backs in their 30s and purchasing goalkeepers within that same age bracket, it is no surprise to see them rank so highly. Their starting XIs are, on average, a full three years older than Tottenham’s.

Oh, and Gabriel Jesus (19) and William Caballero (35), if you were wondering.

 

3. Stoke (29.4)
Mark Hughes secures a podium finish. Ramadan Sobhi has been burdened with the unenviable task of dragging the average age down this season. The 20-year-old is four years younger than Stoke’s next youngest starter, Marc Muniesa. Save for Hughes coming out of retirement, Shay Given is likely to remain the oldest starter of a Premier League game this season. He has played eight league games since his last birthday, failing to keep a clean sheet. You could say he’s a 40-year-old virgin. If you were an idiot.

 

=1. West Brom (29.8)
Did you doubt at any stage that Tony Pulis had not fielded the oldest Premier League starting XI by average age? To the Baggies’ manager’s credit, Sam Field, at 18, is one of only eight teenagers to have started a top-flight game this season.

But the midfielder is the anomaly in this squad. Twenty players have started a Premier League game for West Brom this season; five are 26 or younger. Gareth McAuley is one of eight over-30s. They named the oldest starting XI of any side this season, a team with the average age of 30.8 beating Swansea with ease in December.

 

=1. Watford (29.8)
Yet Pulis will have to either share the crown with Walter Mazzarri or headbutt him while naked in the shower to claim it himself. Anything West Brom can do, Watford can do just as well, and while seven points is the gap in the actual table, there is nothing to separate them here. Jerome Sinclair has since departed this parish, presumably because he could no longer shoulder the burden of being Watford’s youngest starter of a Premier League game. Heurelho Gomes is man enough to take on a similar responsibility and then some.

 

Matt Stead