Liverpool and Everton stars and their rivals across the Premier League will be treated to a mini winter break next season but the clubs have been banned from taking advantage of the change.
The Premier League will be allowing players across the competition one full weekend off from action for the first time.
Liverpool and Everton players will be treated to the break in January but both sides might not be free at the same time.
Five games will take place one weekend and the other five matches from the round will be played the following week. That means half of the league resting up for one weekend each.
It will be a welcome addition to the calendar for players across the Premier League who have been eager for similar treatment to some of their European counterparts, who enjoy a winter break.
But it has been reported that Premier League teams will not be allowed to take advantage of the free weekend and organise lucrative friendlies, with Arsenal recently facing Al-Nasr in Dubai last month. But they will be able to take their players abroad on warm weather camps.
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Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore explained in a statement: “It’s all come together at a nice time and it’s now definite. We will have this split weekend and we are calling it a ‘mid-season player break’.
“We’re not calling it a winter break. Why is that? Because we’re not breaking. We’re playing five games one week and five the other.
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“I think that’s positive I think it’s good for English football. I have to compliment Martin Glenn, he doesn’t see anything other than a successful Premier League as being good for English football.”
