Why is there no Premier League this weekend? Winter break explained and when postponed games will be played

The Premier League is taking a winter break following a packed, but heavily disrupted schedule of fixtures over the festive period.

There are no games being played over the weekend of Saturday 29 January, with the Football Association rejecting calls to reschedule fixtures cancelled due to Covid-19 outbreaks in recent weeks.

The majority of teams will now not be in action in the league until midway through the second week of February, after the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Premier League’s winter break, and how postponed matches will be rescheduled.

Why is there no Premier League this weekend?

Following the last round of Premier League fixtures, which concluded on Sunday 23 January, there is now a two-week cessation of hostilities in England’s top flight.

There will be a single match on evening of Saturday 5 February, when Burnley host Watford, with the rest of the teams resuming league action on the following Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The pre-arranged week off is an international break for other nations, bar Uefa countries, and competitive internationals are due to be played.

Clubs are taking different approaches to the mid-season pause, with some exploring warm-weather training camps abroad and others giving players scheduled days off.

The Premier League has faced severe disruption due to Covid outbreaks (Photo: Getty Images)

When will postponed fixtures be rescheduled?

A total of 22 Premier League games have been postponed this season due to Covid outbreaks, with self-isolation rules leaving sides unable to raise a team.

Burnley’s fixture with Watford has been called off twice, and Sean Dyche’s side have played just 17 fixtures this season – six fewer than Chelsea – and remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

But while this game will be held at the end of the two-week break out of necessity, the Premier League took the decision not to use the time off to play other postponed fixtures.

It will respect the winter break, which the FA fought hard to regain after losing it last year due to Covid fixture congestion. This will prevent clubs having to field teams without any players away on international duty.

Instead, i understands that fixtures could instead be offloaded during Champions League nights, provided Uefa grant approval.

The European governing body does not traditionally allow league games to clash with Champions League nights, but it has said it is open to the idea and will work with leagues to help ease the fixture crisis.

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It said recently: “Uefa is aware of the difficulty of the situation and that the match calendar is highly impacted by Covid.

“As a general principle, the MoU [memorandum of understanding] applies, but we will, of course, discuss this issue with our stakeholders in order to find an amicable solution for all parties involved, in the event that a clash should occur.”

The Champions League resumes in mid-February with four last-16 first-leg matches played on the Tuesday and four on the Wednesday. Those teams will then miss the following week, when the other half of teams contest their first legs over two days. The second legs will then be played over the next fortnight.

It means that even if one of the English teams remaining in the Champions League – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool – needed to play a previously postponed match they could do so in one of the two weeks they are not competing in Europe.

Such a decision would mean that Burnley can make up their shortfall in fixtures during European nights, too.

Under updated rules, Premier League clubs must now have at least four Covid-19 cases within their squad to apply for a fixture postponement.

The Premier League confirmed the change to regulations, which have been criticised in recent weeks, following a meeting of clubs on Wednesday.

Under the previous rules, where a club could not field 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper either from its squad list or its appropriately experienced under-21 players, the match would be postponed. At least one of the unavailable players had to have tested positive for Covid-19.

Now, at least four of the players absent and leaving a club with less than the minimum 14 eligible players must be positive Covid-19 cases.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ILii1Y