Can EPL Teams Cope With Fixture Congestion After World Cup?

The upcoming football world cup in Qatar will hugely impact the Premier League season, so how will the teams cope? Find out here.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is fast approaching, and many Premier League clubs will lose some of their best players for a brief spell, so how exactly will these clubs be able to cope throughout the tournament? 

The players who will be jetting off to play in the world cup will get a week to prepare and train before the start of the tournament.

Some players who progress the furthest will only have eight days to recover before the Premier League games return on December 26th. 

When will the world cup start, and which teams are playing?

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, November 20th, at 7 PM (GMT) when the host nation takes on Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium. Lionel Messi and Argentina are also at the tournament. On November 21st, England takes on Iran, Senegal faces the Netherlands, and the USA plays Wales. 

What are the groups?

Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands are all in Group A.  

France, Australia, Denmark, and Tunisia are in Group D. In Group E; you have Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, and Japan; in Group F, Belgium is joined by Canada, Morocco, and Croatia. 

Finally, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, and Cameroon are in Group G, and Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea are in Group H. 

Almost all these nations have players playing for a Premier League team. The Premier League season has been paused for over a month, and it will recommence on Boxing Day (December 26th). 

There’s still time to watch these players in action before they head off to the world cup by pre-booking your Premier League tickets right now at SeatPick.

Which Premier League players are most likely to play in the World Cup?

There will be around 150 Premier League stars playing for their nation at the world cup, so let’s take a quick look at a few examples of which clubs will be losing players, starting with Arsenal. 

Their most likely stars that will be playing in the world cup include Saliba (France), Jesus (Brazil), Saka (England), and Ramsdale (also England). 

Other Arsenal players include Turner (USA), Tomiyasu (Japan), and Partey (Ghana), and potential world cup players will include Vieira (Portugal), Gabriel (Brazil), and Smith-Rowe (England). 

Chelsea will also be losing lots of players, namely Kante (France), Kovacic (Croatia), Mendy and Koulibaly (Senegal), as well as Mount, Sterling, Chilwell, and James (England). 

Chelsea also looks set to lose Alonso, Azpilicueta (both from Spain), Pulisic (USA), Silva (Brazil), and Havertz (Germany), to name just a few.

Liverpool will miss Henderson, Firmino, Thiago, Van Dijk, Henderson, Fabinho, Alisson, Jota, and Nunez, and Manchester City will lose De Bruyne, Ederson, Laporte, Dia, Bernado Silva, Stones, Walker, Gralish, Gundogan, and Foden, to name just a few key players. 

Also, Manchester United will lose Ronaldo, Eriksen, Lindelof, Maguire, Martinez, Varane, Fred, Elanga, and Malacia.

Which Premier League teams will suffer the most from losing players to the world cup?

It depends on which teams make it to the semi-finals or the final. If France and Brazil make it to the final, the Premier League team with the most French and Brazilian players will suffer the most. 

These players will be more tired after having progressed so far in the tournament, and it could take them longer to relax and settle back into Premier League football. 

It’s not just Premier League teams but also teams from other top-tier leagues around the world that will also have to cope with losing their players to the world cup. 

It only occurs once every four years and shouldn’t interfere too much with the teams.