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LONDON -- British soccer's annual flurry of holiday games does not decide championships, but it can make or break a team's chances.
Unlike the rest of Europe, where the sport is taking a well-deserved break following a busy World Cup year, the teams on the British Isles keep right on playing through the festive period, each cramming up to three games between Christmas and New Year's Day.
And with Blackburn and Manchester United threatening to make the English Premier League a two-horse race, it is not the time for players to get slack on the field in the name of holiday cheer.
The six-day crush will be vital for teams like Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Leeds -- clubs that could drift off the fringe of the title race if they have a bad week. With three points for a win, there could be as much as an 18-point swing between any two teams between now and the start of the new year.
Manchester United, free to concentrate on chasing its third straight Premier League crown after its elimination from the European Champions' Cup, avoids its main rivals but will hardly have a cakewalk.
The Reds, two points behind Blackburn in the standings, play Monday at Chelsea, a team still alive in the European Cup Winners' Cup, followed by what should be an easy home game Wednesday against Leicester and a New Year's Eve visit to Southampton.
Blackburn starts with a trip to Manchester City, a team riding high after a 2-0 victory at Newcastle in the League Cup on Wednesday night. The Rovers then host Leeds and then travel to Crystal Palace.
Newcastle, an unstoppable force early in the season, has slipped to five points off the lead, hurt by injuries. The Magpies have two games next week, both on the road: Monday at Leeds and Saturday at fast-improving Norwich.
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