The Premier League pauses for its first-ever winter break this month, with the intention of giving every club some much needed time off following the hectic Christmas and January period.

 This doesn't mean that fans will be without football for a fortnight, however. The break has been structured in order to allow players a well-earned break and satisfy fans' insatiable hunger for the game.
How Does The Winter Break Work?

This winter break was first confirmed back in May 2018, and this is how it is going to work…

 The break has been designed so that all 20 teams can enjoy a break of 13 days between two fixtures.

 For some clubs, including Manchester United and Chelsea, the Premier League winter break has already begun. Rather than match the system used in European leagues where the whole division shuts down for a set period of time, the Premier League winter break is staggered.

 The break is divided into two sections to ensure that there is no weekend without league football in the month of February.

 The original plan was for eight clubs to take a break first, with no games for them scheduled this coming weekend, with the remaining 12 to have their time off the following weekend when the others have returned to action. But FA Cup replays have dented that for some…

 A handful of Premier League clubs – Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton, Tottenham – played FA Cup fourth-round replay this week, which has eaten into their break.

 But, the break isn't without its flaws. League leaders Liverpool, who have already played 38 games this season, are one of four teams to have an FA Cup replay slap bang in the middle of their "break", with Jurgen Klopp insisting that a youth team will participate in the fourth-round rerun against Shrewsbury at Anfield.

The FA responded to Klopp’s criticism, explaining that during the summer every club was made aware of and accepted the possibility of having to play an FA Cup replay during their break. Klopp’s response to that was to claim that nobody who is ‘sports-responsible’ was consulted.

 Who Has the Most Time off?

 Below is a table showing how many days off each Premier League club will have, with inclusive date ranges of their respective breaks. Liverpool players will actually have a longer break than shown because of Klopp’s plan to use an Under-23 team for the Reds’ FA Cup replay.

 The date range is inclusive of each team’s first and last day off after and before the games.
Clubs Numbers of Days Without a Game
Chelsea ​15 days (2 Feb - 16 Feb)
Manchester United ​15 days (2 Feb - 16 Feb)
Aston Villa ​14 days (​2 Feb - 15 Feb)
Everton 14 days (9 Feb - 22 Feb)
Watford 14 days (9 Feb - 22 Feb)
West Ham 14 days (10 Feb - 23 Feb)
​Arsenal 13 days (3 Feb -15 Feb)
​Brighton 13 days (9 Feb - 21 Feb)
Crystal Palace 13 days (9 Feb - 21 Feb)
​Norwich 13 days (2 Feb - 14 Feb)
Bournemouth 12 days (10 Feb - 21 Feb)
Burnley 12 days (3 Feb -14 Feb)
Leicester 12 days (2 Feb - 13 Feb)
​Manchester City 12 days (10 Feb - 21 Feb)
Sheffield United 12 days (10 Feb - 21 Feb)
Wolves 12 days (2 Feb - 13 Feb)
Newcastle 11 days (5 Feb - 15 Feb)*
​Liverpool 10 days (5 Feb - 14 Feb)*
Tottenham 10 days (6 Feb - 15 Feb)*
​Southampton 9 days (6 Feb - 14 Feb)*

*break shortened by scheduling of FA Cup replay