Premier League to host 43 games despite unprecedented break

In June 2018, in view of the heavy calendar, the employers and the football federation in England decided that it was time to find a way to rest the teams, in the style of the Bundesliga. Now, in February 2020, the time has come to test it out.

But it's not true that there won't be a Premier League race in the shortest month of the year. It's simply a matter of timing. What's more, the overall count between 1 and 29 leaves a tally of 43 matches, an average of one and a half a day. 

To begin with, although it almost corresponds more to the month of January, it is worth noting that the 25th matchday was played between the 1st and 2nd of February. But the 26th, 27th and 28th matchday will still take place this month, but with a very unique distribution.

This Saturday 8th only Everton-Crystal Palace (13:30) and Brighton-Watford (18:30) will be played. On Sunday 9, at 15:00 and 17:30 respectively, Sheffield United-Bournemouth and Manchester City-West Ham will be taking place. Only four Premier League matches in a weekend is a rare event, but it's indeed what will be happening this month. 

That's because that 26th matchday will be scattered around the month. On February 14th it will be Wolves-Leicester (21:00), on Saturday 15th Southampton-Burnley (13:30) and Norwich-Liverpool (18:30) and between Sunday 16th and Monday 17th, the remaining three, including an expected Chelsea-Manchester United (21:00). 

From February 22nd, the schedule will go back to it's normal timing, so the break as such is limited to each team playing only one game in the two weeks in between the month, will have seven days of rest. 

On the other hand, for the 4th and 5th of February, there will be up to six FA Cup matches, among them the controversial one between Liverpool and Shrewsbury, for which Klopp has publicly acknowledged he will be resting his first team.