- Manchester United will not play on a Saturday for the next two months when the Premier League resumes this weekend
- United have a favourable run of fixtures on paper as Ruben Amorim seeks to move further up the table
- They will play three games on a Monday and even on a Friday, but bizarrely, none on a Saturday during the mentioned period
Top leagues around the world are set to resume this weekend after the international break that saw teams book and miss World Cup 2026 spots.
Source: Twitter
Others, like Harambee Stars and Lionel Messi’s Argentina, played in friendly matches.
The Premier League will be back on Saturday at 3:30 pm when Chelsea travel away to Turf Moor to face Burnley. The biggest game of the weekend will be the North London derby on Sunday.
Manchester United, who are unbeaten in their last five games, won’t be in action until Monday night when they host Everton.
Why Man United won’t play on a Saturday for two months
Interestingly, the Red Devils won’t have a Premier League game on a Saturday for the next two months, which is a run of 10 Premier League games.
After the Everton fixture, the other nine games will see Ruben Amorim’s side play two Monday night matches, three on Sunday, three in midweek matches and once on a Friday night.
Their next game on a Saturday will be on January 17 in the Manchester derby.
United’s fixture list is less congested this season after they failed to qualify for European football. They finished 15th in the league and were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.
As BBC Sport reports, there are a couple of reasons why United will have to wait for quite a while before they play on a Saturday, and it’s mostly down to TV coverage.
Manchester United’s fixtures
All the three Monday matches were selected as the Monday night television picks for that weekend. Their games against Crystal Palace and Leeds United had been selected by TNT Sports for coverage on a Saturday, but these had to be rescheduled.
Palace will play Strasbourg in the Conference League on a Thursday, while Leeds United have another Premier League game on a Thursday as well. Clubs need more than 60 hours of recovery time, and thus, both clubs can’t play on Saturday.
Source: Twitter
Their home games against West Ham and Wolves and away trip to Burnley are all part of the Premier League’s midweek matches in a congested period.
Just before Christmas, they play Aston Villa in the designated late Sunday kick-off, while their game against Newcastle United falls on Boxing Day (Friday).
Also interestingly, in their run of ‘no Saturday games’, United do not face a proverbial top-six side, giving them a perfect chance to build momentum. They are seventh with 18 points, eight off the leaders Arsenal.
Gabriel suffers injury
The Gunners have new concerns after Gabriel suffered an adductor injury while on international duty.
Mikel Arteta’s side have the small matter of the derby to worry about this weekend before they play Bayern Munich.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
