The average Premier League match this season lasts 100 minutes and 24 seconds. Of those, the ball is in play for just 55 minutes and 31 seconds — 55.3 per cent of the total. Stoppages and time-wasting are having a significant effect on games.

Before getting into the details, it’s worth seeing which teams have the ball in play the most. Manchester City lead the way, with the ball in play for 58.99 per cent of their matches, followed by Everton (57.09 per cent) and Nottingham Forest (56.42 per cent). The league leaders, Arsenal (55.51 per cent) are just above the average of 55.28 per cent.

Corners taking longer as they become more effective

Arsenal, for example, spend 44.03 seconds on their corners, on average — the most in the league — followed by Sunderland (40.56 seconds) and Tottenham (39.79 seconds).

Goal kicks a useful tool to dictate tempo of games

While referees are no longer as lenient with goalkeepers holding the ball to waste time after last summer’s rule change — where a corner is awarded if they don’t release the ball within eight seconds — goal kicks remain an effective way to slow games.

But of those, who are the worst offenders? Leeds, Arsenal and Burnley stand out as the three teams that rank highly for time-wasting across all those types of stoppages in play.