Premier League Top Six: Which Team Has The Toughest Christmas Schedule?

Premier League Top Six: Which Team Has The Toughest Christmas Schedule?
16:12, 21 Dec 2018

By January 3, we ought to be that little bit closer to knowing how the Premier League’s top six are shaping up.

Manchester United have thrown a spanner in the works with the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who takes charge for the first time against former employers Cardiff City this weekend.

First, Liverpool will kick-off a frantic set of fixtures over the Christmas and New Year period when they travel to Wolves on Friday night.

Which of the big boys has the hardest run-in? Liverpool and City arguably have the most intense group of games, as neither can afford to give the other an inch in the title race.

Spurs and Chelsea, meanwhile, will look to consolidate their place in the top four.

Taking into account opponents and their league placings, as well as the gaps between games, and the distances travelled door-to-door to away games, their respective pile-ups make interesting reading.

Liverpool

Number of games: Four

Opponents: Wolves, Newcastle, Arsenal, Manchester City

Premier League placing of their opponents: 7th, 14th, 5th, 2nd

Average hours between games: 72

Total Distance travelled to away games: 122 miles

Manchester City

Number of games: Four

Opponents: Crystal Palace, Leicester, Southampton, Liverpool

Premier League placing of their opponents: 15th, 12th, 17th, 1st

Average hours between games: 73

Total Distance travelled to away games: 326 miles

Tottenham Hotspur

Number of games: Four

Opponents: Everton, Bournemouth, Wolves, Cardiff
Premier League placing of their opponents: 8th, 11th, 7th, 16th

Average hours between games: 54

Total Distance travelled to away games: 360

Chelsea

Number of games: Four

Opponents: Leicester, Watford, Crystal Palace, Southampton
Premier League placing of their opponents: 12th, 10th, 15th, 17th

Average hours between games: 67

Total Distance travelled to away games: 29

Arsenal

Number of games: Four

Opponents: Burnley, Brighton, Liverpool, Fulham
Premier League placing of their opponents: 18th, 13th, 1st, 20th

Average hours between games: 60

Total Distance travelled to away games: 288

Manchester United

Number of games: Four

Opponents: Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Newcastle
Premier League placing of their opponents: 16th, 19th, 11th, 14th

Average hours between games: 67

Total Distance travelled to away games: 343

The standouts clashes are, of course, Liverpool’s two fixtures against Arsenal and City. To be the best, as they say, you have to beat the best, and those fixtures will prove a tough test of Jurgen Klopp’s men’s title credentials.

However, the Reds do at least have the second-longest intervals between games, because several have been rearranged for TV scheduling.

Tottenham, on the other hand, have the shortest periods between matches and the furthest distances to travel, as they head away to Everton and Cardiff.  

Solskjaer will be pleased to learn that his new troops are the only side who do not encounter any top-half opposition, as the Norwegian looks to get off on the right foot in his interim role at Old Trafford.

The fixture calendar has been relatively kind to Chelsea too, as they have just a combined 29 miles to travel to their local away games and their highest-calibre opponents are 10th-placed Watford.

As things stand, there are a seemingly insurmountable 19 points separating pace-setters Liverpool and United – a statistic that spelled the end for Jose Mourinho – but elsewhere in the top six, there is plenty of room for manoeuvre.

It’s set to be a mouth-watering couple of weeks.

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