Mikel Arteta voices concerns over Arsenal‘s congested festive schedule – is his discontent justified?
Following their Wednesday evening match against Brentford, the Gunners face a swift trip to Aston Villa for a Saturday lunchtime (12:30 GMT) kick-off, marking a particularly tight turnaround.
Arteta suggests that the Villa game should have been moved to Sunday to allow for more recovery time.
Unfortunately for Arteta, current regulations dictate that only teams involved in European away fixtures on Wednesday nights can be exempt from the Saturday lunchtime broadcast slot, rendering his complaints unlikely to be addressed.
The month of December is notoriously demanding for Premier League clubs, encompassing a midweek round of games, the festive program, additional European ties, and the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Which team, then, faces the most challenging fixture schedule in the five-week period leading up to the first weekend of January?
Mikel Arteta has steered Arsenal to a five-point advantage at the Premier League summit.
December is testing enough for teams in the Conference League, but the burden intensifies for those successful in the EFL Cup, as Crystal Palace are about to experience.
The expanded European calendar mandates that the final two Conference League rounds occur on consecutive Thursdays, with Palace playing away to Shelbourne on December 11 and hosting Finnish side KuPS seven days later.
However, this constitutes merely part of the challenge for Palace, who currently sit fifth in the Premier League. They are slated to play 11 games, with six on the road, during the 36-day interval between November 30 and January 4. Their longest rest period amounts to five days, making it the toughest schedule for any club.
Palace also have an EFL Cup quarter-final encounter at Arsenal, initially planned for the same midweek as the KuPS fixture.
This has been rescheduled to Tuesday, December 23, resulting in Palace’s match against Leeds being brought forward by 24 hours to Saturday, December 20.
As a result, they must now face KuPS and Leeds within a mere 48 hours, before their cup clash with Arsenal.
Over a punishing five-week period, they will have contested matches against Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Newcastle.
The schedule is not quite as extreme for Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, but it remains demanding.
Chelsea are slated for 10 games, six of which are away.
Following their loss at Leeds on Wednesday, they are set to visit Bournemouth this Saturday at 15:00 GMT.
Chelsea also face a challenging Champions League away fixture against Atalanta next Tuesday.
They do, however, get a full week off between their visit to Newcastle on December 20 and a home game against Aston Villa on December 27.
It is also advantageous that they have two home matches scheduled after Christmas, against Villa and Bournemouth. Furthermore, their EFL Cup quarter-final is away to League One club Cardiff City.
Newcastle United also face 10 games, split evenly with five at home and five away.
Their task is complicated by a Champions League away fixture in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen next Wednesday. However, they will have an extra day of rest before their short trip to Sunderland in the Premier League on Sunday, December 14.
Newcastle, alongside Palace, are the only clubs that don’t get a full week off at any point during this period.
The six days between a home game against Chelsea and an away day at Manchester United on December 26 constitutes their longest rest. Furthermore, they have two away games after Christmas. On the positive side, their EFL Cup tie is at home to Fulham.
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Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal also have an even distribution of five home and five away matches.
Arsenal and Aston Villa, their opponents on Saturday, both played on Wednesday night and have European away games scheduled for next week. The Gunners are traveling to Club Brugge, while Villa will visit FC Basel.
Arsenal will once again face a Wednesday-Saturday schedule next week but are set to face Wolves the following Saturday at 20:00 GMT.
With their EFL Cup quarter-final rescheduled, Arsenal will have the midweek of December 15 off, rather than the one leading into Christmas.
They have two home games (against Brighton and Villa) following this period, but face a shorter rest period compared to teams slated for 10 or more games, with an away fixture at Bournemouth on Saturday, January 3.
Pep Guardiola’s team will also have five home games and five on the road.
City face a difficult Champions League trip to Real Madrid next Wednesday but, similar to Newcastle, will not return to Premier League action until the following Sunday when they travel to Palace.
Their EFL Cup game is at home to Brentford.
While City will have a week off at Christmas, they return to action with two away fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, with an extra day of rest between matches.
Nottingham Forest will face nine games, with five away.
They will travel to the Netherlands to play FC Utrecht in the Europa League on Thursday, December 11, followed by a home game against Tottenham on the Sunday.
Forest will have only three days between their Christmas games at home to Manchester City and Everton.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool will also have five away matches out of their nine games.
Trips to Leeds on Saturday and Inter Milan next Tuesday are followed by a home match with Brighton the following Saturday.
Liverpool will then play one game in a two-week period, and both of their Christmas games will be at home (Wolves, Leeds). They also have two extra days’ rest compared to some teams.
Aston Villa will have five of their nine fixtures away.
The main drawback is a short three-day turnaround after Christmas, with difficult games away at Chelsea and Arsenal.
But with no EFL Cup quarter-final to be concerned with, there is a period of only one match in 13 days.
In an odd twist of scheduling, Tottenham are the only one of the nine English clubs in Europe that will be at home next week.
It’s also a favorable game for Spurs, who face the winless Slavia Prague at home.
Thomas Frank’s team will have a period of one game in two weeks, and while they have back-to-back away games after Christmas (against Palace and Brentford) they are both in London and allow for an extra day’s rest.
Brentford and Fulham are the two clubs who have EFL Cup commitments but are not in Europe.
Both are away fixtures, and they have a highly similar distribution of league fixtures.
The remaining nine clubs only have the Premier League to focus on, so fixture congestion is not a primary concern.
Bournemouth, Brighton, Everton, and Wolves are slightly worse off than the others, with away games on December 27 and December 30.
Leeds also have an extra day between two away fixtures around Christmas, but both are away – at Sunderland and Liverpool.
Sunderland have a good distribution of games, with four days from their home match against Leeds on Sunday, December 28, to hosting Manchester City on Thursday, January 1.
They have no cup games at all, but they have already had to play Liverpool and are still set to face Manchester City (twice), Newcastle, and Tottenham.
Burnley and West Ham each have a three-day gap between games over Christmas, but these are home fixtures.
In theory, it seems to have fallen into place for the perfect December for Manchester United.
They don’t have to play in Europe or the EFL Cup, and they have a nearly optimal distribution of fixtures.
After next Monday, they play twice in 18 days, and over Christmas, they will play on Friday-Tuesday-Sunday.
Their quick double-header is against the bottom-ranked Wolves.
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