England boss Gareth Southgate has been handed his Premier League wish for the new season… after the so-called ‘Big Six’ were kept apart in the final round of fixtures ahead of the World Cup.
The FA had submitted a formal request to counterparts at the Premier League to keep Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur apart for the final round of fixtures before the competition in Qatar.
The World Cup begins on November 21, and the England boss - who has found himself under-fire after the humiliating 4-0 defeat to Hungary on Tuesday - admitted on Monday that a request had been made for the final round of Premier League fixtures on the weekend of November 12.
“We have asked the Premier League to have a think about things, but we also understand that the fixture programme is very complicated,” said Southgate earlier this week.
“We’d have a preference for none of those big games but to be honest the difference it’s going to make is fairly marginal.
"Due to the timing of the World Cup, we lose the October camp so everything’s condensed, competitions are added but nothing is taken out. In the end I am sure players are gaining more of a voice in that and understandably so, and they should have a voice.”
Manchester City and Liverpool have been handed home fixtures against Brentford and Southampton respectively, while Spurs face Leeds at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Arsenal head to Wolves, Chelsea travel to Newcastle and Manchester United meet Fulham at Craven Cottage.
It’s expected more than half of Southgate’s final 26-man squad in Qatar will be made up of players from those six clubs.
Final Round of fixtures before World Cup
- A.F.C. Bournemouth v Everton
- Brighton v Aston Villa
- Fulham v Manchester United
- Liverpool v Southampton
- Manchester City v Brentford
- Newcastle United v Chelsea
- Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace
- Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United
- West Ham United v Leicester City
- Wolverhampton v Arsenal
