Premier League big six teams' playing minutes ranked from most to least

The World Cup group stage is drawing to a close, with the final matches before the knockouts coming on Friday.

A total of 133 Premier League players are featuring in the 32 teams who qualified for the tournament. The English top-flight is by far the league that has the most players at the World Cup, and managers will be keeping a close eye on their stars while they are in Qatar.

This will particularly be the case for members of the Big Six fighting for the title, or teams at the bottom of the division battling for survival. Here, Mirror Football takes a look at the playing time for the outfield players of each Big Six team so far.

1) Manchester City - 2325

Unsurprisingly given they are sending 16 players, more than any other Premier League team, to the World Cup, Manchester City sit at the top of this list. Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and John Stones have all featured heavily so far.

Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez are also expected to be handed more playing time as the tournament progresses. City boss Pep Guardiola may be concerned to see so many of his squad playing so many minutes, given they remain in the title race as well as all three cup competitions.

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2) Manchester United - 1708

Erik ten Hag has turned Manchester United's fortunes around, which is reflected by how many minutes his squad have played at the World Cup. In total, 13 Red Devils travelled to Qatar with their countries.

The likes of Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire are all regular starters, playing nearly every minute of the tournament so far. Many of the minutes played are grouped with those starters, rather than spread out, so Ten Hag will likely not be too concerned.

3) Tottenham - 1623

Tottenham have 11 players at the World Cup and they are being worked hard by their countries' respective managers. Son-Heung Min, Harry Kane and Richarlison are all starting for their teams.

But a large portion of the Spurs contingent will be heading back from Qatar early, with most of their teams already crashing out. Boss Antonio Conte is renowned for pushing his players to their physical limits, which he made need to ease back on given how much they are featuring.

4) Chelsea - 1489

It has been a disappointing season for Chelsea, but their squad still saw 12 players sent to the World Cup. The majority of those players are starters for their respective countries, including Thiago Silva, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech and Kalidou Koulibaly.

Those minutes will only be added to, with virtually all of the countries of Chelsea players reaching the last 16. That may be a concern to Graham Potter, who will want his team to be fresh for the second half of the season following a disappointing period before the World Cup.

5) Liverpool - 771

Potentially reflective of the number of injuries Liverpool have suffered, they have just seven players in Qatar. Between them, they have played roughly half the minutes of the Chelsea contingent.

Like the Blues though, all but Darwin Nunez's Uruguay have already booked their place in the Last 16, meaning their game-time will increase. Having seen his squad already battered by injury this term, that may concern Jurgen Klopp who may be wary of burnout.

6) Arsenal - 612

The Premier League leaders have 10 players at the World Cup, but they have played the least of any of the Big Six teams. Only Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey can be considered regular starters out of that group.

Mikel Arteta will likely be delighted to see his key players are down at the bottom of this list. The Gunners possess a small squad, meaning Arteta will want to do everything to avoid any injuries or burnout.

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