Premier League to only have one Boxing Day game ‘because of Uefa competitions’

UEFA’s calendar of club competitions now covers 10 midweeks instead of six as it did two seasons ago; The Champions League, Europa League and Conference League are each given an independent week for promotion.

The Conference League is also held on consecutive weeks in December, with the final round of matches scheduled in the normal slot for the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

Crystal Palace are in the Conference League and have reached the last eight of the EFL Cup, where they were drawn against Arsenal.

The date of the tie has not yet been confirmed but it may have to be rescheduled for two days later, on December 23, when each team plays in the Premier League.

Arsenal will play in the league again on December 27 and Palace will be back in action a day later.

In July, player representatives and world football’s governing body FIFA agreed that there would be a rest period of at least 72 hours between matches.