Which Premier League teams have the busiest Christmas schedule & how to follow
- Published
It's that time of the year again when squads are going to be stretched and strained during what Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp calls a "crazy" festive schedule.
Premier League games will come fast and furious with teams having three games in seven or nine days over the Boxing Day and New Year's Day schedules and it seems the top-flight fixture computer been kinder to some than others.
Newcastle United, battling relegation, Arsenal and Manchester City face some of the shortest turnarounds between matches, while Liverpool and Wolves have some of the longest.
Team | Time between first kick-off and third kick-off |
|---|---|
Newcastle United | 138 hours |
Arsenal | 141.5 hours |
Manchester City | 141.5 hours |
Leicester City | 144 hours |
Norwich City | 144 hours |
Tottenham | 144 hours |
Crystal Palace | 146.5 hours |
Watford | 146.5 hours |
West Ham | 146.5 hours |
Brentford | 162 hours |
Brighton | 162 hours |
Aston Villa | 164.5 hours |
Manchester United | 165.5 hours |
Burnley | 167 hours |
Chelsea | 167 hours |
Everton | 167 hours |
Southampton | 167 hours |
Leeds United | 169.5 hours |
Liverpool | 172 hours |
Wolves | 197 hours |
The Premier League's festive fixtures & how to follow
All kick-off times GMT (from least to most time between games)
Newcastle United
27 December - Manchester United (h) 20:00 (Sky Sports)
30 December - Everton (a) 19:30 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Southampton (a) 14:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 138 hours
Arsenal
26 December - Norwich City (a) 15:00
28 December - Wolves (h) 12:30 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Manchester City (h) 12:30 (BT Sport)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 141.5 hours
Manchester City
26 December - Leicester City (h) 15:00
29 December - Brentford (a) 20:15 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Arsenal (a) 12:30 (BT Sport)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 141.5 hours
Leicester City
26 December - Manchester City (h) 15:00
28 December - Liverpool (h) 20:00 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Norwich City (h) 15:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 144 hours
Norwich City
26 December - Arsenal (h) 15:00
28 December - Crystal Palace (a) 15:00 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Leicester City (a) 15:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 144 hours
Tottenham
26 December - Crystal Palace (h) 15:00
28 December - Southampton (a) 15:00 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Watford (a) 15:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 144 hours
Crystal Palace
26 December - Tottenham (a) 15:00
28 December - Norwich City (h) 15:00 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - West Ham (h) 17:30 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 146.5 hours
Watford
26 December - Wolves (a) 12:30
28 December - West Ham (h) 15:00 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Tottenham (h) 15:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 146.5 hours
West Ham
26 December - Southampton (h) 15:00
28 December - Watford (a) 15:00 (Amazon Prime)
1 January - Crystal Palace (a) 17:30 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 146.5 hours
Brentford
26 December - Brighton (a) 20:00 (Sky Sports)
29 December - Manchester City (h) 20:15 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Aston Villa (h) 14:00 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 162 hours
Brighton
26 December - Brentford (h) 20:00 (Sky Sports)
29 December - Chelsea (a) 19:30 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Everton (a) 14:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 162 hours
Aston Villa
26 December - Chelsea (h) 17:30 (Sky Sports)
28 December - Leeds United (a) 17:30 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Brentford (a) 14:00 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 164.5 hours
Manchester United
27 December - Newcastle United (a) 20:00 (Sky Sports)
30 December - Burnley (h) 20:15 (Amazon Prime)
3 January - Wolves (h) 17:30 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 165.5 hours
Burnley
26 December - Everton (h) 15:00
30 December - Manchester United (a) 20:15 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Leeds United (a) 14:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 167 hours
Chelsea
26 December - Aston Villa (a) 17:30 (Sky Sports)
29 December - Brighton (h) 19:30 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Liverpool (h) 16:30 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 167 hours
Everton
26 December - Burnley (a) 15:00
30 December - Newcastle United (h) 19:30 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Brighton (h) 14:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 167 hours
Southampton
26 December - West Ham (a) 15:00
28 December - Tottenham (h) 15:00 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Newcastle United (h) 14:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 167 hours
Leeds United
26 December - Liverpool (a) 12:30 (BT Sport)
28 December - Aston Villa (h) 17:30 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Burnley (h) 14:00
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 169.5 hours
Liverpool
26 December - Leeds United (h) 12:30 (BT Sport)
28 December - Leicester City (a) 20:00 (Amazon Prime)
2 January - Chelsea (a) 16:30 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 172 hours
Wolverhampton Wanderers
26 December - Watford (h) 12:30
28 December - Arsenal (a) 12:30 (Amazon Prime)
3 January - Manchester United (a) 17:30 (Sky Sports)
Time between first kick-off and third kick-off: 197 hours
What have the managers said?
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "It's crazy. It was always crazy and it will always be crazy.
"Everything is fine until you reach that Christmas time. The 26th and 28th is still not right and we have to accept that. It is tradition, I get all that, but it is really tough at the end of December. January is not getting better - the more successful we are in the cup competitions, it's pretty much exactly the same.
"We have two months ahead of us which will be really difficult to deal with but the only good news about that is that it's the same for all teams. We all have to dig in and fight through that period, be smart, try to recover as quick as possible.
"It's really not easy but it's do-able and that's what we will try to do."
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa also has issues with the fixture list over December and January.
"The calendar is so overcharged it doesn't bear in mind the development of the preparation," said the Argentine recently.
"That's why I have serious doubts over the future of professional football because it is constantly commercialised and the product every time is constantly worse."
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