There are Premier League games next Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday too. It is the break with no visible break which is a clever trick from the fixture computer given Robert Firmino and Fred are sunning themselves in the Maldives, Trent Alexander-Arnold is taking in some basketball in Miami and most of the rest of the Premier League cast list seem to be in Dubai. It isn't quite a level playing field – Chelsea and Manchester United have 16 days between games; Manchester City and Leicester City 12 and poor old Southampton ten because of their FA Cup replay last night but it at least gives everybody something. You only need to have a look at the state of England's top strikers – Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham – all of whom are out injured, to see the cumulative effects of the English season. While you cannot blame a collision with the advertising hoardings on a fixture pile-up as was the case with Abraham, the other three are all victims of the obsession with quantity over quality.

Source: Express February 06, 2020 18:03 UTC