Six Premier League rule changes impacting Leeds United, Newcastle, Everton and others this season

With the new Premier League campaign just days away, Leeds United and their top flight rivals will be eager to kick off another fascinating season of competition.

In many respects, it’s been a busy summer at Elland Road, and supporters can expect to see a notably changed lineup take to the field when the Whites face Wolves on Saturday.

But fresh faces won’t be the only alterations to watch out for.

Footballing lawmakers IFAB have introduced a number of new measures for 2022/23, ranging from the minor to the more conspicuous.

With that in mind, we’ve run through all six of the new amendments, and what they could mean for Leeds and their peers.

Law 3 – Substitutions

During the pandemic, we have seen the introduction of a temporary amendment giving “top” competitions the option of allowing teams to use up to five substitutes per game over the course of three separate substitution opportunities.

This measure has now been made permanent, while another addendum to the rules now means that competitions now have the options of allowing participating sides to name up to 15 subs for a fixture.

Law 8 – Coin tosses

Less of a rule change and more of a clarification, Law 8 has been updated to clearly state that the referee should be the person who tosses the coin to determine which team gets kick-off prior to a match, and which side gets a choice of ‘ends’.

Previously, there was no codification on who should toss the coin to decide these things.

Law 10 – Penalty shootout cautions

Again, a new update which we won’t see come into play in the Premier League - but one that could be seen in cup competition.

The laws of the game now state that a team official may be cautioned or sent off during penalty shootouts.

Law 12 – Fouls and misconduct relating to goalkeeper handling.

Again, more of a rhetorical clarification than any kind of meaningful change to the manner in which the game is played.

Law 12 now confirms that a goalkeeper can handle the ball in their area without being shown a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Previously, that was not stated explicitly.

Law 12 – Fouls and misconduct relating to leaving the field of play to commit an offence against an outside agent

This amendment pertains to players leaving the pitch without the referee’s permission to commit an offence against an outside agent - for instance, if a player were to get into an altercation with a fan.

In that situation, if the ball was in-play at the time of the incident, play will resume with an indirect free-kick.

If that ball was not in-play, however, then the correct method of restart, such as a corner or goal-kick, will still apply.

Law 14 – Goalkeeper positioning at penalty kicks

Goalkeepers are now able to stand with one foot behind the goal-line to push off from deeper, thus gaining more momentum when facing a penalty.

Previously, at least one of the goalkeeper’s feet had to be on the line, with the other in front of or on the line too.