How Fit Are English Premier League Soccer Players And How Far Do They Run In Matches?

Its always interesting to take a look at the plethora of statistics available in modern sport, and some of those from the English Premier League EPL are especially enlightening.

As a runner myself, Ive always wondered about the extreme fitness levels of the modern soccer player and how that would translate to running.

It may come as something of a surprise, or not, to see that the top soccer players in the EPL cover well over 10km in a typical match if they play the full 90 minutes.

In fact, during the 2023/2024 season each of the top 10 players for most distance covered in a single match notched up over 13km as per image below.

If you had to work that out at pace per km, it would translate to a quite pedestrian of 6:55km. However, it cant be worked out like that because playing a game of football consists of a series of sprints, walking, standing on the spot and jogging.