Tough schedules means Newcastle and Leicester may be short of festive cheer

For most of us, Christmas is a time for eating, drinking and making merry - Covid restrictions permitting, of course - but Premier League footballers will be hard at work during a crucial period of the season.

The graphic below highlights the winners and losers from this year's festive fixtures, measuring the gap between kick-offs in hours and also revealing which clubs face the most difficult set of fixtures based on the average league position of their opponents.

Newcastle have the least amount of rest during the Christmas period and they, along with their December 27 opponents Manchester United, are the only sides who will concede an extra day of rest to both of their opponents in their second and third matches.

The Magpies' clash against Southampton on January 2 is a huge game for Eddie Howe's side as the Saints are the kind of team Newcastle could do with dragging into the relegation mix. However, Southampton will go into that fixture with two extra days of recovery and preparation.

Manchester United's schedule isn't quite as condensed, as their final game is a day later on January 3, but opponents Wolves will also have had two days' extra rest. In fact, Bruno Lage's men have the most days off of any team in the division between December 26 to January 3.

Brighton should also be content with their schedule, at least from a recovery perspective. They don't have to play games with only one full rest day in between – 12 other teams do – and will also benefit from an extra day off compared to opponents Everton in their final game of the period.

Of the clubs who have to play fixtures after only one full day of rest, Leicester have the toughest assignment. They are likely to be chasing the ball a lot on their visit to champions Manchester City on Boxing Day and have to face title contenders Liverpool just 53 hours later.

The Foxes are the only side to play against two of the top three over the festive period, and they are also due to take on Liverpool in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, December 22.

Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham, Brentford and Chelsea are the other Premier League teams involved in next week's League Cup quarter-finals, adding to their squad-rotation conundrum.

Watford are one side that may be cursing their luck at the festive fixture list, with the relegation-threatened Hornets having to face top-eight trio Wolves, West Ham and Spurs in the space of just seven days.

However, there is potential for the mood to improve at Goodison Park. Providing Everton can brush aside their current injury troubles, matches against Burnley, Newcastle and Brighton, whose combined average position is almost 17th, provides them with the platform to steer clear of the relegation danger.

Manchester United are another club who appear to have a kind schedule. The Red Devils travel to Newcastle (19th) before entertaining Burnley (18th) and Wolves (8th). Only Everton have an easier run of fixtures as determined by average position.

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