Aston Villa are facing one of the busiest Christmas schedules in the Premier League, meaning there will be little time for Unai Emery to give his squad a break.
The new fixtures show Aston Villa will play five league games in just 16 days, while Newcastle United have the full 20 days to do the same amount of games.
This could prove to be a key difference, as both sides will be looking to keep their place in the league during this busy spell.
Emery faces demanding Christmas schedule
Villa kick off their festive period by heading to a tricky game against Chelsea on Monday the 21st of December.
After the break they host Leeds United at 12:30pm on Boxing Day, followed by a visit from Liverpool four days later. Emery’s side then heads down to Bournemouth on the 2nd of January.
The last of their five fixtures is an away game against Everton on Tuesday the 5th January.
Villa will have only three days between the last two games in their five game run, and they will play three games on the road at Chelsea, Bournemouth and Everton.
It will be a real test of Emery’s squad rotation, as they will have to be careful with their players’ fitness to make sure they do not lose any momentum through the festive period.
There will also be little time for rotation by the manager.
Newcastle handed more recovery time
Newcastle will have more time to get through their five games.
They play Brentford away on Saturday, 19th December, before they host Manchester City on Boxing Day and Nottingham Forest on 30th December.
Trips to Chelsea on January 3 and Manchester United on January 7 complete their festive schedule.
They also have four days off between the last two games, whereas Villa have only three days. As well as that, they have seven days between the first match and the Boxing Day clash against City.
This means Jaissle will have more time to recover and get ready for the next challenge. However, they do have an extremely tough schedule against quality teams such as City, Chelsea and United.
The Premier League have confirmed there will be a minimum of 60 hours’ rest between the festive fixtures. However, some teams are left with far less than others.
It will be a busy few weeks for Arsenal with their five games in 17 days. But Villa will have the most packed schedule. Emery will be aware that his squad will face a major challenge before the season reaches its halfway point.
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