Impact sub betting insight: Nunez tops popularity poll ahead of Chelsea clash

Darwin Nunez has topped a William Hill poll that sought to identify the best ‘impact’ sub among current Premier League players.

The Liverpool striker received 12% of the votes from 1,000 football fans in the UK, with Aston Villa's rising star Jhon Duran coming in second at 9%. Making up the top-five are Chelsea's Joao Felix, Manchester United's Antony, and West Ham's Niclas Fullkrug.

Impact subs are, of course, a big draw for those who like to indulge in some exciting, high-octane in-play betting. Here we’ll look at the chances of each available man making it onto the scoresheet.

What are the odds of a popular impact sub scoring this weekend?

Despite expectations that he would be fit for West Ham’s all-London battle with Spurs, Niclas Fullkrug is still unlikely to feature for the time being, so we’re down to the top-four. Interestingly, a four-way acca on each man to score anytime is priced at a market average of 92/1.

Darwin Nunez

Given Nunez’s popularity as someone who can make an impact off the bench, he has a surprisingly rich return of goals before half-time. Four of his last five strikes – including his sole goal of 2024/25 to date, against Bournemouth – have come before the interval. However, his trio of injury-time goals in the 2023/24 Premier League season clearly still stick in the mind, especially with two of them (including a 99th-minute winner at Nottingham Forest in March).

Jhon Duran

Duran has made headlines recently with his impressive goals off the bench against teams like West Ham, Leicester, Everton, and Bayern Munich. He is a pretty reliable component in a goalscorer & win bet builder too, having been on the winning side in all six of his previous goalscoring appearances so far this season. All of those arrived in the 76th minute or later, with five seeing him score the deciding goal, making him a popular pick ahead of Aston Villa’s trip to Fulham.

Joao Felix

So far, Felix’s only contribution of 2024/25 is a last-minute goal in Chelsea’s 6-2 win at Molineux on the second gameweek. The match was long won, so he could hardly be called an impact sub on that basis alone. You would have to bring his first (loan) spell with Chelsea into the equation to justify expectations of his having a late flourish, with his strikes against Man Utd and Bournemouth in May 2023 meaning that his last three goals for the Blues have come in the 80th minute or later.

Antony

He may have earned more contempt than respect amongst Manchester United fans, due to his poor return from a very generous weekly wage. Hoping for a change of fortune when United host Brentford, the Brazilian’s uncertain future keeps his odds steady, making his price to score in the second half of any game a tempting prospect. This is especially the case when you consider that each of his previous three open-play goals for the Red Devils have come beyond the hour mark.

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