Robin Thorpe: Festive fixture list giving unfair advantage
Thorpe has been at United for eight years
Written by Simon Austin — December 21, 2017
ROBIN THORPE, the head of recovery and regeneration at Manchester United, says some teams have been handed a ‘competitive advantage’ because of the festive fixture list.
Teams play four games during the Christmas and New Year period - but some teams will have significantly more recovery time than others.
For example, Arsenal have 289.75 hours between their first and last fixtures, wheile United have only 215.5.
Whereas United play on December 23rd, 26th, 30th and January 1st, Arsenal play on the 22nd, 26th, 31st and 3rd. United will have the least recovery time out of a big six including Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Thorpe tweeted: “Fatigue accumulation is a limiting factor during the #EPL festive period, therefore game distribution is key to ensure competitive neutrality.
“However, certain teams have the advantage of an additional 24-hours (average) recovery time between successive games across entire period. Interesting to compare the festive fixtures of EPL teams, it seems the @premierleague provides competitive advantage for some clubs.
"15 teams are disadvantaged and play NY fixtures 43-54 hours apart whilst the other 5 have an extended recovery time of 72-99 hours.”
Festive fixtures:
ARSENAL
22nd v Liverpool (H) 1945 GMT
26th v Crystal Palace (A) 2000
31st v West Brom (A) 1630
3rd v Chelsea (H) 1945
CHELSEA
23rd v Everton (A) 1230
26th v brighton (H) 1500
30th v Stoke (H) 1500
3rd v Arsenal (A) 1945
LIVERPOOL
22nd v Arsenal (A) 1945
26th v Swansea (H) 1730
30th v Leicester (H) 1500
1st v Burnley (A) 1500
MANCHESTER CITY
23rd v Bournemouth (H) 1500
27th v Newcastle (A) 1945
31st v Crystal Palace (A) 1200
2nd v Watford (H) 2000
MANCHESTER UNITED
23rd v Leicester (A) 1945
26th v Burnley (H) 1500
30th v Southampton (H) 1730
1st v Everton (A) 1730
TOTTENHAM
23rd v Burnley (A) 1730
26th v Southampton (H) 1230
2nd v Swansea (A) 1945
4th v West Ham (H) 2000
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