The round of Premier League fixtures that come between Boxing Day and New Year will be scrapped for the 2022/2023 season in a bid to protect player fitness after the 2022 Qatar World Cup, according to an exclusive report from the Telegraph .
It means that Newcastle United players returning from the winter World Cup in the Middle East will have the best part of a weeks rest between the fixtures on Monday, December 26 - the first fixtures after the World Cup finishes on December 18 - and the final games of the year on New Year’s Eve, which falls on a Saturday.
The changes are expected to be confirmed on Thursday morning when the full fixture list for the upcoming season is released.
