As European competition returns this week, almost half of the Premier League clubs have continental football to look forward to this season - but will that help or hinder their Premier League campaigns?
A record-breaking nine English sides will play European football in 2025-26 - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham in the Champions League; Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the Europa League; and Crystal Palace in the Conference League.
But will those clubs who are not in Europe be able to capitalise on having a less hectic fixture schedule and more rest between matches? When Leicester City shocked the footballing world to win the Premier League in 2015-16, they only played 43 games in all competitions, with no European distractions.
If an English club were to triumph in Europe this season, they would play a minimum of 55 matches - 38 in the Premier League, at least two domestic cup games and either 15 or 17 European matches, depending on whether they feature in the knockout play-off round. So what would teams prefer? Be fresh and do well in the league or face a gruelling schedule full of regular midweek games and international travel, but with more chances of silverware?
“As a player I preferred to play,” said former England defender Matt Upson, who featured in the Champions League with Arsenal and the Europa League with Stoke City. “That amount of games from now until Christmas is probably on the heavier side of too much - but not having European football is not enough [for clubs] now.
“There is obviously a tipping point where you can have too many games, but that’s why the squads are so big - the teams in Europe have to rest players.” Upson believes players would always choose to be going for more trophies rather than missing out on major tournaments.
He said: “As a player, I liked to stay in a rhythm and playing twice a week was a brilliant gameweek for me. I would really enjoy that, and you felt really fit, and really sharp. “There is nothing like matches to get you really fit, to the level you want, certainly at this stage of the season where you are still getting into it.”
Leicester are one of only two teams to become English champions in the Premier League era having not had European football earlier that season, with Chelsea doing the same the following year.
However, four of the first six Premier League winners - Manchester United in 1992-93 and 1995-96, Blackburn in 1994-95 and Arsenal in 1997-98 - did not have to deal with much European distraction, as they all only played two continental matches before losing in the opening round of the Uefa Cup.
Since four English clubs began regularly qualifying for the Champions League in 2001-02, nine sides have secured a top-four spot in the Premier League in a season without European football, with Newcastle the last to do so when they came fourth in 2022-23.
On the flip side, three teams - Manchester United in 1998-99 and 2007-08 and Manchester City in 2022-23 - have won the Premier League and Champions League in the same season. Liverpool were the only team to win the old European Cup and become English champions in the same year, doing so in both 1976-77 and 1983-84. This season’s workload will ensure a tiring few months for some clubs.