Premier League clubs will return from the international break facing an intense period, with EIGHT rounds of top-flight fixtures between now and 2 January.
So, which teams have the toughest and easiest fixtures during that spell? We've crunched the numbers to provide the answer.
We've calculated the average current league position of each side's next eight opponents. The teams with the lowest numbers in the table below have the hardest fixtures ahead, because overall their opponents will generally be closer to first place in the table than 20th.
Average position of PL opponent MW13-20
| Club | Ave. position | Club | Ave. position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | 9.25 | Liverpool | 10.38 |
| Everton | 9.25 | Brighton & HA | 10.50 |
| Arsenal | 9.88 | Man City | 10.63 |
| Aston Villa | 9.88 | Nott'm Forest | 10.63 |
| Luton | 9.88 | Brentford | 10.75 |
| Spurs | 9.88 | Newcastle | 10.88 |
| West Ham | 10.13 | Burnley | 11.00 |
| Sheff Utd | 10.25 | AFC Bournemouth | 11.50 |
| Man Utd | 10.25 | Chelsea | 12.50 |
| Fulham | 10.38 | Wolves | 12.63 |
There are two teams top of the pile for the toughest next eight fixtures - Crystal Palace and Everton - with their opponents' league position across this period averaging 9.25.
Fixtures and opponents' current league position
| MW | Crystal Palace | Everton | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Luton (A) | 17th | Man Utd (H) | 6th |
| 14 | West Ham (A) | 9th | Nott'm Forest (A) | 14th |
| 15 | AFC Bournemouth (H) | 16th | Newcastle (H) | 7th |
| 16 | Liverpool (H) | 2nd | Chelsea (H) | 10th |
| 17 | Man City (A) | 1st | Burnley (A) | 20th |
| 18 | Brighton (H) | 8th | Spurs (A) | 4th |
| 19 | Chelsea (A) | 10th | Man City (H) | 1st |
| 20 | Brentford (H) | 11th | Wolves (A) | 12th |
While Palace's next three fixtures are against Luton Town, West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth, it then gets much harder for Roy Hodgson's men.
They face back-to-back matches against the top two teams, Liverpool and Manchester City, before facing Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea and Brentford.
Hodgson will at least take heart from the return to fitness of key attacking players Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise.
Sean Dyche's Everton also face champions Man City in a tough run of matches including showdowns with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Chelsea.
Those challenges will make the Toffees particularly keen to pick up points when they face Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers and bottom club Burnley.
Opportunity knocks
At the other end of the scale, Wolves and Chelsea have the "easiest" set of fixtures and can look to maintain their strong recent results, with their next eight opponents averaging a league position of 12.63 and 12.5 respectively.
Fixtures and opponents' current league position
| MW | Wolves | Chelsea | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Fulham (A) | 15th | Newcastle (A) | 7th |
| 14 | Arsenal (A) | 3rd | Brighton (H) | 8th |
| 15 | Burnley (H) | 20th | Man Utd (A) | 6th |
| 16 | Nott'm Forest (H) | 14th | Everton (A) | 19th |
| 17 | West Ham (A) | 9th | Sheff Utd (H) | 18th |
| 18 | Chelsea (H) | 10th | Wolves (A) | 12th |
| 19 | Brentford (A) | 11th | Crystal Palace (H) | 13th |
| 20 | Everton (H) | 19th | Luton (A) | 17th |
Wolves have recovered from a sticky start to the season and have beaten Man City and Spurs in an impressive seven-match run featuring only one defeat.
Now six of Wolves' next eight matches are against teams placed 10th in the table or below, starting with a trip to 15th-placed Fulham.
While they have a tricky trip to Arsenal, that is followed by successive home matches against Burnley and Nott'm Forest, who have only two away wins between them this season.
Thereafter, Gary O'Neil's side face a trio of matches against London sides - with trips to West Ham and Brentford either side of Chelsea at home - before finishing the calendar year against Everton at Molineux.
Similarly, a difficult start to the season for Chelsea has taken a positive turn, with the Blues buoyed by a thrilling 4-1 win at Spurs and 4-4 home draw with Man City.
See: The BEST matches of the season so far
The next three matches are awkward, against Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd.
But Mauricio Pochettino's side will look to surge up the table during a period where they face three of the bottom four teams.
