Newcastle manager Steve Bruce lost four of his players to injury - and was forced to keep on the field a player, American DeAndre Yedlin, with a suspected broken hand - in a 20-minute spell during a game against Leicester on Wednesday.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe fielded already-injured players in his team's loss at Brighton days earlier, while Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson acknowledged starting star player Wilfried Zaha against Norwich despite knowing he was carrying a problem.

Aston Villa also lost goalkeeper Tom Heaton and striker Wesley to season-ending injuries in their win against Burnley.

Across a period where some teams were forced to play four games in an 11-day span, a website that compiles injuries in English soccer's top flight - Premier Injuries - has calculated that there were 53 reported injuries sustained by players.

"Like all things in life, it's about quality over quantity," said Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who has been one of the most vocal critics about the workload asked of a modern-day player.

"If you have a good friend and you see him twice a year, it's brilliant, the best time of your life. If you see him every day, you'll think after five days, 'What the heck?"'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, the owner of one of the best and deepest squads in world soccer, also spoke out Friday about the crammed nature of the festive period in England.

"Like I've said before, nobody cares," Guardiola said, referring to soccer's authorities. "And next season there will be more than 50 injuries in this period again."

While most leagues in Europe take a break over Christmas and New Year, the Premier League ploughs on regardless, continuing a tradition in England that saw - at its most extreme - top-flight teams playing on both Christmas Day and December 26 until the late 1950s.

It's a dream for soccer-mad TV viewers - in England and around the world - less so for Premier League managers who are left to pick up the pieces as their squads are left in tatters at the heavy workload that often impacts on the quality of the games.

"The boys last night ran 13km," Klopp said, the day after his team beat Sheffield United 2-0 at Anfield on Thursday.

"I can't tell them, 'Come on, try to run only 11 km so you'll be ready for the next game.' It doesn't work like this.

For the first time in English soccer, the top flight will have a mid-season break this season.

It will see one round of Premier League games played across two weekends - five games on one, five on the other - in February to give clubs a two-week break.

Australian Associated Press