Everton are now deep into the festive schedule with the players being handed the luxury of not having to play on Boxing Day this year.
Despite the pros of being a professional footballer, this time of year certainly provides some difficulties in terms of their commitments dragging them away from family time.
David Moyes has been in the game long enough to have become accustomed to these issues, but Everton players are not back in action until Saturday.
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It is an extreme rarity that there is not a full list of Premier League fixtures being played on Boxing Day, but that is the agenda for 2025.
Despite the result at the weekend, Moyes has been praised by Declan Rice for playing such a big part in his career.
The 62-year-old will have some interesting decisions to make at Finch Farm this week, with Wayne Rooney already sharing something that Sam Allardyce did at Everton on Christmas Day.
Wayne Rooney shares what Sam Allardyce did at Everton that the players loved
Earlier this month, Rooney waxed lyrical about Allardyce as he claimed the former Everton boss did not get enough time on Merseyside.
The 40-year-old worked under the veteran manager during his second spell at Everton.
Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, the England legend admitted Allardyce used to give the Everton players Christmas Day off.
Which former Everton striker would you hypothetically bring back to play in the current side? 🤩
When asked which managers allowed the players a day off, Rooney replied: “We did under Van Gaal and Big Sam.”
Given Rooney played under a number of managers following his time under Sir Alex Ferguson, it goes to show just how rare it is for players to get the day itself off.
Everton have hosted a lot of Christmas events at the stadium over the month, but the players are more than likely expected to be in Finch Farm on Thursday.
Rooney played under Moyes at Old Trafford and his recollection would suggest that the day off is not going to be handed out.
Everton need to bounce back with Burnley victory
Two defeats in a row have not derailed Everton by any means, but it will frustrate Moyes given they were not blown away in either game.
Everton felt they should have had a penalty against Arsenal for a foul on Thierno Barry during the second half.
Who is currently the biggest miss for Everton going into Burnley? 🤕
However, they will have the perfect opportunity to bounce back and put three points on the board against a struggling Burnley.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 19 | BurnleyBurnley | 17 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 19 | 34 | -15 | 11 |
The Clarets are currently sat second bottom in the Premier League table with just three wins from their opening 17 games.
Everton simply have to be taking three points from these sorts of games if they are to do something special this season.
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