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Daily Mirror

Sport

Felix Keith

Man Utd and Liverpool woe as Premier League risk Erik ten Hag and Jurgen Klopp's wrath

Jurgen Klopp EPL Erik ten Hag Ten Hag Arsenal Brentford Chelsea Everton Manchester City Nottingham Forest

Erik ten Hag and Jurgen Klopp might both already be dreading the festive period after Manchester United and Liverpool were handed tough schedules by the Premier League.

The World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on November 20 and runs until December 18, has condensed the fixture list and given managers plenty to consider. The Premier League stops on November 13 and will resume six weeks later when seven matches are played on Boxing Day on December 26.

Managers knew they were in for a busy and testing period around the New Year, but fans of United and Liverpool may well be dismayed to read their schedules, which were released by the Premier League on Monday. While no team will be forced to play twice within 48 hours, as has previously happened, there is a punishing pile-up to brace for.

United have been given Boxing Day off before restarting their campaign against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on December 27. Ten Hag’s side then travel to Wolves on New Year’s Eve and play Bournemouth on January 3 to complete their run of three games in eight days.

Rivals Liverpool are due at Villa Park for a 5.30pm kick-off on Boxing Day before hosting Leicester at Anfield at 8pm on December 30. Three days later, they will travel to west London to play Brentford. Like United, that amounts to three games in just 168 hours.

Those schedules do not compare favourably with defending champions Manchester City and current league leaders Arsenal, who both have 24 hours more during the three-match period, playing their three matches across nine days.

Erik ten Hag will have to deal with three games in eight days after Christmas (Getty Images)

City don’t return until December 28, away to Leeds, before playing Everton on New Year’s Eve and Chelsea on January 5. Arsenal have West Ham on Boxing Day, Brighton away on New Year’s Eve and Newcastle on January 3.

Ten Hag is still getting used to getting his side through fixture after fixture, but it is nothing new for Klopp, who has regularly hit out at the Premier League and broadcasters for handing his team short turnarounds between matches. Even before the season kicked off, Klopp was already concerned by the prospect of the festive fixtures straight after many of his players return from Qatar.

“The World Cup is, for all top teams in world football, pretty much the same, especially in England the same, because we play immediately [after]," he said. "If you are in the final or if you play for third place, then you play a week later, football again. Then you play [December] 26th, 31st, 2nd and stuff like this. Obviously the guys in the Premier League like the spectacle. We’ve said it now often enough, nobody really cares about the players in these moments, but it’s how it is."