Man City have familiar Premier League headache in hunt for trophies

Manchester City have been given the green light to fly to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather camp this month.

The only potential snag in the plan came from Huddersfield, with an FA Cup replay meaning the Blues would have to face a significantly colder but shorter trip to West Yorkshire instead. Some Premier League teams have had their winter break intruded on by FA Cup replays but the league are keen to avoid games in their own competition during this time to show that they are allowing players to rest.

For City, that means their home game with Brentford postponed due to their participation in the Club World Cup last week will have to wait to be rearranged. Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and John Stones may all be fully fit by then, although equally Ivan Toney may have hit red hot form.

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While they cannot plan for form or injuries, what City can expect is a familiar feeling when they return from Abu Dhabi. If they are going to go deep in all competitions, it is going to require a three-month slog of multiple games in a week.

As it stands, there are currently nine free midweeks from the start of February until the end of the season, which sounds like a lot. Two of those will be dedicated to the Champions League if City can get past Copenhagen in the last-16, and another two will be booked in if the current holders can make the semi-finals.

Another will go if either one of City or Brentford make the FA Cup fifth round, and there are league games currently scheduled for the FA Cup quarter and semi-final dates that could need rearranging. That would