PREMIER LEAGUE clubs will have to play SIX matches in just 17 days next season after the draft fixture schedule was revealed.
With a shortened campaign in 2017/18 to help England prepare for the 2018 World Cup, fixture congestion over the festive period could be even worse.
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The Premier League has confirmed that a draft fixture schedule could see six rounds of games over Christmas and New Year in 2017-18, as opposed to four this year.
That could see clubs playing six games in 17 days from 16 December 2017 to 1 January 2018 inclusive.
That said, there are still several stages of the fixtures process to go and nothing is confirmed until June and final dates remaining subject to change after that announcement.
But it does mean that the debate over the difference in rest between games for each side and calls for a winter break looks set to continue.
Fans can look forward to a whopping 60 Premier League games in total over the course of that period – whereas this season there have been 40 over a similar period.
Managers have not been happy, with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
Arsenal manager Wenger was especially critical of this year’s festive fixture list, calling it the “most uneven Christmas period” he has seen in 20 years.
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He said: “The difference of rest periods is absolutely unbelievable, compared to the other teams it is unbelievable.”
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho claimed: “It looks like the fixtures are chosen to give rest for some and to create problems to others”.
And in October, an incredulous Jurgen Klopp looked at Liverpool’s festive fixture list and simply asked: “How do you prepare a team for this?”
The stakes are just as high at the bottom of the table with Sam Allardyce saying the fixture schedule contributed to his “shattered” Crystal Palace side losing to relegation rivals Swansea on Tuesday.
This process of compiling fixtures is done by IT services company Atos on behalf of the Premier League, firstly involving inputting international dates from world governing body Fifa.
Then dates of the European club competitions from Uefa are added, before the Football Association adds in their competitions, leaving the dates on which league and League Cup matches can be played.
It has been made more is complicated for the 2017-18 season due to an agreement with the FA to finish seasons early in tournament years - in this instance to give the England manager a month with his squad to prepare for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Where possible, the Premier League and FA will also try to establish a stand-alone date for the FA Cup final.
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