Defoe's 24 goals off the bench make him the best impact sub England's top flight has seen

The story

Some players are at their most dangerous when they start on the bench. A new top ten of the best Premier League substitutes ever has Jermain Defoe in first place, and the numbers back it up.

Defoe came off the bench to score 24 Premier League goals, the most in the league's history. They all came in different games, and five of them won the match. The first was for West Ham away at Ipswich. The last arrived 17 years later, when he grabbed a late equaliser for Bournemouth at Watford.

Nwankwo Kanu is second with 17 goals as a sub for Arsenal, West Brom and Portsmouth, plus 12 assists. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is third. Most fans remember him for coming on late in Barcelona in 1999 and winning the Champions League for Manchester United, but in the league he also scored 17 times as a sub, about one every 83 minutes he played.

Edin Dzeko scored at the same rate, and his assists lift him further. He also headed the late goal against QPR in 2012 that set up Sergio Aguero's title winner. The rest of the top ten is Javier Hernandez, Tore Andre Flo, Olivier Giroud, Daniel Sturridge, Victor Anichebe and Theo Walcott.

The one current player anywhere close is Danny Welbeck. He is 35, plays for Chelsea, and has 19 goals as a sub, so he could still move up.