Why is there a Premier League winter break?
Premier League to return until February 5.
The Premier League 2022 winter break has just started today. There will be no more fixtures until February 5. Top-flight football will have to wait. The Premier League instead of having a break around Christmas uses late January and early February to give the winter break.
The next scheduled game in the competition is on Saturday, February 5, when Burnley play home to Watford, with the next full set of fixtures not until the midweek run from February 8-10.
What are the dates of the winter break in the Premier League?
This year's Premier League 2022 winter break officially runs from Monday, January 24 to Monday, February 7, and the league has made a point of not rescheduling games postponed by COVID during this period.
However, a game has crept in before February 8, the match between Burnley and Watford, which has been postponed twice due to outbreaks of Covid-19 first at Watford and then at Burnley, has been set for the weekend of the FA Cup fourth round.
Both Burnley and Watford were eliminated in the third round of the competition, losing to Huddersfield and Leicester respectively, so it is an opportune time to point to this rearranged match.
However, not all the other teams will have that weekend off: on February 4, 5, and 6, the fourth round of the FA Cup will be played.
Following that, there is a full round of Premier League matches on Tuesday, February 8, Wednesday, February 9, and Thursday, February 10.
However, not all players will rest. Players participating in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will continue to play, and there are international matches scheduled for non-UEFA countries, so several South Americans, for example, could represent their countries.
What will teams do in the winter break?
Most Premier League managers will give their players a few days off, while some teams go away on training camp.
It's a decent enough window to fit in a vacation and also come back for some training sessions before the restart.
Arsenal are off to Dubai for a warm weather training camp to help their bid for a top four finish, while Newcastle United have flown to Saudi Arabia for training following their takeover by the country's Public Investment Fund.
Premier League leaders Manchester City were due to travel to Abu Dhabi, but those plans have been abandoned following an outbreak of Covid and Pep Guardiola has given his players a week's rest instead.
The EFL, meanwhile, continues as normal, with Championship, League One and League Two matches in the coming weeks.
