Youngest and oldest Premier League squads revealed

 1) Aston Villa - 24 years and 64 days

Last season's NextGen series winners also boast the youngest team in the Premier League, with Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann in particular, standing out.

 

2) Southampton - 24 years and 342 days

English trio Calum Chambers, James Ward Prowse and Luke Shaw have come through the Saints academy and the 18 year olds have been tipped to be England regulars in the future.

 

3) Tottenham - 25 years and 33 days

Andre Villas-Boas bought young in the summer and Christian Eriksen and Andros Townsend have been excellent so far. That's before mentioning Erik Lamela, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker.

 

4) Arsenal - 25 years and 110 days

Arsenal have an abundance of young talent including Jack Wilshere, Carl Jenkinson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with the elder statesmen this season being Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta.

5) Liverpool - 25 years and 160 days

Liverpool's young players have been crucial to their charge to the top of the Premier League, with Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Victor Moses all impressing.

 

6) Sunderland - 25 years and 298 days

Charalampos Mavrias and Connor Wickham, 19 and 20 respectively, are the youngest players fielded by Sunderland, while John O'Shea – maligned by Paolo Di Canio – is the oldest at 32. 

 

7) Cardiff - 26 years and 20 days

On one end of the scale is 21-year-old Steven Caulker, an £8m signing from Tottenham and on the other is hometown hero Craig Bellamy, who is 34.

 

8) Swansea - 26 years and 86 days

Michael Laudrup has built a good team of young players in south Wales, with Spanish aces such as Jordi Amat, Alejandro Pozuelo and Alvaro Vasquez as well as talented Jonjo Shelvey.

 

9) Norwich - 26 years and 202 days

Norwich manager Chris Hughton bought younger players in the summer and added 19-year-old Nathan Redmond, 23-year-old Leroy Fer and 24-year-old Ricky van Wolfswinkel.

 

10) Newcastle - 26 years and 22 days

At St James's Park this season Shola Ameobi, Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez are the only players in their 30s and the Magpies have players like 22-year-old Davide Santon keeping the average age down.

 

11) Everton - 26 years and 354 days

Ross Barkley has won praise for his displays this season and the 19-year-old has already been called up to the full England squad. The Toffees have additional youth in on loan stars Gerard Deulofeu and Romelu Lukaku, while £12m signing James McCarthy has slotted in well. The signing of 32-year-old Gareth Barry on loan adds experience.

 

12) Man City - 26 years and 356 days

Title favourites Man City have a young side including striker Stevan Jovetic, who is 23, while Yaya Toure turned 30 not that long ago.

 

13) Chelsea - 26 years and 362 days

Chelsea have lost two of their talented 20-year-old, with Romelu Lukaku on loan at Everton and Marco van Ginkel ruled out with injury for six to nine months. It's a fairly young squad with the likes of Oscar, Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle, but key players Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry are all the wrong side of 30.

 

14) Hull - 27 years and 40 days

Former Man United youth player Robbie Brady has been exciting to watch at Hull this season. The 21-year-old scored one and created another in the away win at Newcastle.

 

15) Man United - 27 years and 112 days

As Manchester Evening News sports editor Peter Spencer said, David Moyes has inherited an ageing squad, but there is youth, too. Wilfried Zaha, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck are all England internationals.

 

16) West Brom - 27 years and 295 days

Scott Sinclair (above) is on loan at the Hawthorns, but 20-year-old striker Saido Berahino is one for the future.

 

17) Stoke - 28 years and 23 days

At 24, Marko Arnautovic, pictured here holding off Bacary Sagna, is the youngest player to play for Stoke in the Premier League this season. The Potters have fielded a number of player edging closer to 30.

 

18) Crystal Palace - 28 years and 84 days

Kevin Philips is 40, Danny Gabbidon is 34 and Julian Speroni is 35, though the youngest player the Eagles have fielded in the Premier League is 19-year-old Jonathan Williams. Record signing Dwight Gayle might look like he's 14, but the forward is 22 years old.

19) West Ham - 28 years and 228 days

Ravel Morrison is the youngest regular first team player at the Hammers at just 20 years old, though Jussi Jaaskelainen, Kevin Nolan and Joe Cole are just three of the players over 30 at Upton Park.

20) Fulham - 29 years and 30 days

The age of Man United's squad was called into question by Manchester Evening News journalist Peter Spencer, in must-hear interview on talk |sport (see link below).

"If you look at the ages, there are a lot of key players over 30 - Van Persie, Giggs, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra," the paper's sports editor said, claiming Man City have youth on their side compared to the Red Devils. But how do the Manchester clubs compare to the rest of the Premier League? Fulham are the oldest, with players like 32-year-old striker Dimitar Berbatov keeping the average age up. Click the arrow to count down to the youngest Premier League side…