The festive fixture pile-up is upon us, with three Gameweek deadlines to negotiate in the space of 10 days.
This is the time of year when rotation traditionally ratchets up a notch, as Premier League bosses attempt to manage weary legs and tight turnarounds.
For Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, it’s a time to get benches in order as one or two emergency substitutes may be needed.
Here we take a look at turnaround times between the league fixtures in Gameweeks 18-20.
GAMEWEEKS 18-20: OVERVIEW
Thanks to a snapshot of Legomane’s graphic above, we can see at a glance how much rest each team gets between their fixtures in Gameweeks 18 and 20.
We’ve included the recovery times between Gameweek 17 and 18, too, with six Premier League sides in midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final (CC-QF) action.
Manchester City and Brentford blank in Gameweek 18, of course, due to City’s involvement in the Club World Cup (CWC).
GAMEWEEKS 18-20: TOTAL RECOVERY TIMES
Looking more closely at the Gameweek 18-20 fixtures, we here break down the turnaround times between each side’s matches.
The times below (click to expand) are given to the nearest half-hour and are calculated between full-time in one match and kick-off in the very next game.
The clubs are then sorted by cumulative recovery time from Gameweeks 18-20:
*Manchester City and Brentford both blank in Gameweek 18. Their preceding games are the FIFA World Club Cup final (Fri 22 Dec) and Gameweek 17 (Sun 17 Dec) respectively.
SHORTEST-TO-LONGEST TURNAROUNDS IN EACH GAMEWEEK
GAMEWEEKS 18-19
| GW18-19 (hours between matches) | |
| Newcastle | 67.5 |
| Nottm Forest | 67.5 |
| Liverpool | 70 |
| Bournemouth | 70 |
| Fulham | 70 |
| Luton | 70 |
| Burnley | 72.5 |
| Wolves | 76.5 |
| Chelsea | 76.5 |
| Man Utd | 77.5 |
| Sheff Utd | 89 |
| Aston Villa | 94 |
| Everton | 99.5 |
| Man City | 120.5 |
| Arsenal | 121 |
| Spurs | 122.5 |
| West Ham | 126 |
| C Palace | 141.5 |
| Brighton | 165.5 |
| Brentford | 243.5 |
GAMEWEEKS 19-20
| GW19-20 (hours between matches) | |
| Chelsea | 63 |
| Arsenal | 64 |
| Spurs | 64.5 |
| Everton | 65 |
| Man City | 65 |
| Wolves | 65.5 |
| C Palace | 65.5 |
| Brentford | 65.5 |
| Aston Villa | 89 |
| Luton | 91.5 |
| Burnley | 91.5 |
| Man Utd | 91.5 |
| Sheff Utd | 94 |
| Nottm Forest | 99 |
| Bournemouth | 117 |
| Fulham | 117 |
| West Ham | 117.5 |
| Brighton | 118 |
| Liverpool | 144.5 |
| Newcastle | 149.5 |
ANALYSIS
Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt the toughest hands overall, having to play on December 24, 27 and 30.
That does raise the possibility of Mauricio Pochettino freshening up his starting XI in one of those games, especially as the Blues have an EFL Cup quarter-final in the midweek before Gameweek 18.
With Cole Palmer (£5.6m), Raheem Sterling (£7.1m), Conor Gallagher (£5.4m), Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.3m) and the fit-again Christopher Nkunku (£7.3m) all options in the three attacking midfield positions, and Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson (£6.9m) and Armando Broja (£4.9m) capable of leading the line, there will be a degree of rotation risk.
There might be a degree of trepidation about Liverpool and Newcastle United players on Boxing Day.
The two clubs not only have less than 72 hours of recovery time between Gameweeks 18 and 19 but they, like Chelsea, also have EFL Cup ties to contest before that.
It remains to be seen how strong a side Jurgen Klopp names in midweek but the trip to Burnley is the final game in a five-match run that sees the Reds play on December 14, 17, 20, 23 and 26 – although many of the regulars were spared for the first of those fixtures, a UEFA Europa League tie against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Turf Moor has been famously a place where Klopp has rotated in the past, notably in the busy festive period in 2017/18 and 2018/19.
An injury-hit Newcastle haven’t got huge numbers to draw on even if Eddie Howe does want to freshen things up but they do have Sven Botman (£4.5m) and Dan Burn (£4.4m) back from injury, which puts Jamaal Lascelles (£4.2m) and Tino Livramento (£4.4m) at risk. Botman will likely be carefully handled after his recent lay-off, so it’d be a surprise to see him start all three matches over the coming week.
The good news is that Newcastle and Liverpool have almost a full week of rest before the two clubs meet at Anfield in Gameweek 20.
Eight clubs have turnarounds of under 72 hours from Gameweeks 19-20, although six of them – all bar Chelsea and Wolves – had been gifted generous recovery times in their previous matches.
Those half-dozen teams are Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Brenford.
Arsenal, Spurs, Brentford and Palace all have this upcoming midweek off before the festive fixture frenzy begins.
There are only 65 hours between Man City’s fixtures in Gameweeks 19 and 20, which does beg the question of whether Pep Guardiola would risk handing successive starts to any of his players who are carrying niggling/recurring problems – like Erling Haaland (£13.9m), for example…
However, you’re laughing if you are Brighton and Hove Albion or West Ham United.
The Seagulls play on December 21, December 28 and January 2, a Thursday-Thursday-Tuesday turnaround that should see Roberto De Zerbi’s instincts to rotate curbed slightly.
David Moyes is usually at the opposite end of the scale when it comes to team tinkering and a Saturday-Thursday-Tuesday schedule will even further minimise the risk of rotation.
90-minute man Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) will likely offer what many others can’t during the Christmas period: three starts and full-game run-outs.
A final word on Brentford, who don’t play at all between December 17-27 due to their Gameweek 18 blank. Expect some discontented words from Gary O’Neil, whose Wolves side have to face the Bees in Gameweek 19 after a week’s less rest!
