Newcastle United handed major post-World Cup boost ahead of Leeds United, Leicester City and their European rivals

The Premier League returns on Boxing Day with the traditional round of fixtures. Eddie Howe’s side make the trip to face Leicester City knowing a win would see them move temporarily into 2nd place in the division ahead of Manchester City’s return to action two days later.

The World Cup has made this a unique Premier League season with a month-long mid-season break for teams to factor into what is usually a very busy festive schedule. There is also the added complication of sides being unable to prepare for the return of football with a full squad with many Premier League players having been away in Qatar representing their national sides.

Newcastle, if you include youngster Garang Kuol who will join the club when the transfer window opens, have had six players away in Qatar, representing four different countries: Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson are away with England, Fabian Schar with Switzerland, Bruno Guimaraes with Brazil and Kuol with Australia.

All four countries made it out of the group stages with Brazil and England still going strong, despite Switzerland and Australia’s Round of 16 exits to Portugal and Argentina respectively. However, despite having six representatives away in Qatar, Magpies players have found game time at the tournament rather limited - and this could be to Howe’s advantage when domestic football finally returns.

According to research conducted by OLBG, minutes played by Newcastle players at the World Cup are among the lowest in the Premier League. Only Southampton (270 minutes) and Crystal Palace (407 minutes) have seen their players play less than Newcastle players (454 minutes).

This statistic means that despite having five of their key players away in Qatar, the Magpies should have more chance of coming back fit and refreshed. Particularly when you compare their measly 454 minutes with Manchester City players playing 3,768 minutes, Chelsea’s 2,647, Tottenham Hotspur’s 2,632, Manchester United’s 2,620 - it’s clear that Newcastle’s players will likely come back more refreshed than some of their nearest rivals for a European spot.

Leicester, their next league opponents, have seen their players feature for 915 minutes whilst Leeds United players, the next side they face at St James’s Park, have featured for 691 minutes.