Leeds United have the toughest run of festive fixtures in the Premier League according to research done by Sporting Life & Infogol. The Whites return to Premier League action following the World Cup break with a clash against Manchester City at Elland Road, before travelling to Newcastle United and then hosting West Ham.
Sporting Life's findings are based on Infogol's final forecasted position at the end of the season, with City expected to finish top, Newcastle in fifth and the Hammers in 11th. That equates to an average league position of 5.7, which is the lowest figure of any team in the division.
City currently sit second in the table and will come into the game with Erling Haaland on the back of a six-week rest, and a burning desire to atone for their 2-1 defeat to Brentford before the break. Their next opponents Newcastle are also among the most inform teams in Europe having lost just once in all competitions this season, as well as nine wins in their last 10.
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Leeds have also been a little hard done by in terms of the scheduling of the fixtures. With Newcastle in action on Boxing Day, they will have an extra two days' rest over the Whites ahead of their New Years Eve clash as Jesse Marsch's side do not play City until December 28.
West Ham also have an extra 24 hours of recovery prior to their trip to Elland Road with their home match against Brentford set to take place on December 30. On the other end of the scale, Manchester United are deemed to have the kindest festive fixture list on paper, as they are set to face all three of the sides forecasted for relegation - Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth.
As can be seen below, Leeds' run of games is much tougher than anyone else.
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