The English Premier League will reportedly follow the lead of the SPFL by allowing five substitutions during matches next season when clubs vote on the move on Thursday.
According to The Times, clubs are expected to push through plans to finally allow five subs per team in each game after a U-turn by voting members.
Scottish Premiership clubs favoured a return to five substitutes after the winter break, having switched up from three substitutions during the peak of the pandemic when games were behind closed doors.
Some clubs were against the continuation of five at the start of the season as they believed it favoured the nation's biggest outfits, but the rule change became permanent during January with Celtic’s 2-0 win against Hibs being the first game to officially allow five subs this season.
At a previous vote ten of the twenty English Premier League rejected the motion to follow the rest of Europe in allowing five subs.
However, many managers have been vocal critics of the fixture congestion with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp being particularly outspoken about the impact of last year’s Christmas fixture congestion on his squad.
The German said: "Playing on the 26th and 28th, it's just not right. I just say that because it is true.”
The English Premier League will now reportedly follow SPFL rules after a U-turn on the rule by clubs. The issue is once again being voted on at a Premier League stakeholders meeting in London on Thursday following several attempts to get the rule re-introduced by a number of sides over the last two years.
Maheta Molango, chair of the PFA, believes the increase provides no competitive advantage to the bigger clubs. He said:
'We are absolutely in favour of it. We have made this clear to the Premier League. It should never have been a discussion about competitive advantage because it has nothing to do with competitive advantage - as studies show. This is purely a question of player welfare.”
“We don't want to put our clubs at a disadvantage globally,' he said. 'Our competitors overseas have five subs. We are the only top league that has not adopted that rule. When our clubs face giants in Italy, in Spain, in France, the reality is that those clubs would have had the chance to rotate much more.”
An SPFL spokesman said: "FIFA has allowed each league to determine its own rules regarding substitutes since the Covid-19 pandemic began. "As a members' organisation, it is key that clubs in each division are able to make decisions on issues such as this for themselves."
