Does European football come at a Premier League cost?

As European competition returns this week, almost half of the Premier League clubs have continental football to look forward to this season - but will that help or hinder their Premier League campaigns?

A record-breaking nine English sides will play European football in 2025-26 - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham in the Champions League; Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the Europa League; and Crystal Palace in the Conference League.

But will those clubs who are not in Europe be able to capitalise on having a less hectic fixture schedule and more rest between matches?

When Leicester City shocked the footballing world to win the Premier League in 2015-16, they only played 43 games in all competitions, with no European distractions.

If an English club were to triumph in Europe this season, they would play a minimum of 55 matches - 38 in the Premier League, at least two domestic cup games and either 15 or 17 European matches, depending on whether they feature in the knockout play-off round.

So what would teams prefer? Be fresh and do well in the league or face a gruelling schedule full of regular midweek games and international travel, but with more chances of silverware?

"As a player I preferred to play," said former England defender Matt Upson, who featured in the Champions League with Arsenal and the Europa League with Stoke City.

"That amount of games from now until Christmas is probably on the heavier side of too much - but not having European football is not enough [for clubs] now.

"There is obviously a tipping point where you can have too many games, but that's why the squads are so big - the teams in Europe have to rest players."

Upson believes players would always choose to be going for more trophies rather than missing out on major tournaments.

He said: "As a player, I liked to stay in a rhythm and playing twice a week was a brilliant gameweek for me. I would really enjoy that, and you felt really fit, and really sharp.

"There is nothing like matches to get you really fit, to the level you want, certainly at this stage of the season where you are still getting into it."

Leicester are one of only two teams to become English champions in the Premier League era having not had European football earlier that season, with Chelsea doing the same the following year.

However, four of the first six Premier League winners - Manchester United in 1992-93 and 1995-96, Blackburn in 1994-95 and Arsenal in 1997-98 - did not have to deal with much European distraction, as they all only played two continental matches before losing in the opening round of the Uefa Cup.

Since four English clubs began regularly qualifying for the Champions League in 2001-02, nine sides have secured a top-four spot in the Premier League in a season without European football, with Newcastle the last to do so when they came fourth in 2022-23.

On the flip side, three teams - Manchester United in 1998-99 and 2007-08 and Manchester City in 2022-23 - have won the Premier League and Champions League in the same season. Liverpool were the only team to win the old European Cup and become English champions in the same year, doing so in both 1976-77 and 1983-84.

This season's workload will ensure a tiring few months for some clubs.

Crystal Palace have already played seven competitive matches, including the Community Shield and two qualifiers to get into the Conference League, and by Christmas they could have played 29 games in all competitions.

That is in comparison to Bournemouth, Leeds, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham, who should have all played only 18 times by 25 December, having already been eliminated from the Carabao Cup and with no European football.

"For a team like Manchester United, the longer breaks they have got between games could be beneficial for their players," said Upson. "But it depends on how good the environment is at the training ground and, at the moment, I would hazard a guess that it isn't the best.

"So you are spending a lot of time around the training ground, with a cloud hanging over it, with things not going well on the pitch, and then you have to wait to try to put things right the following weekend."

Tottenham and Manchester United both prioritised Europe on their way to the 2025 Europa League final, with trophy winners Spurs finishing 17th in the Premier League and United ending just two places above them.

It was Tottenham's first European triumph since 1984, but even that could not save manager Ange Postecoglou's job as he was sacked after his club finished one place above the Premier League relegation zone.

Spurs and Manchester United are not the only teams to have suffered while chasing European glory.

In 2018-19, Burnley had played six Europa League qualifying ties by the end of August, failed to make the group phase and finished 15th in the Premier League, eight places worse off than the year before.

Newcastle went from the play-off round to the Europa League quarter-finals in 2012-13, but the 14 games that involved could be seen as contributing to them finishing a lowly 16th in the Premier League, 11 places lower than the previous year.

Two teams have been relegated from the Premier League in a season in which they played in the main phase of a European competition - Blackburn Rovers in 1998-99 and Ipswich Town in 2001-02 after both featured in the Uefa Cup.

For some clubs, a season without European football will be a strange experience.

Manchester United's last campaign without commitments in Europe was in 2014-15 and this will be only their second season without continental football since the 1990s.

After their Carabao Cup second-round loss to League Two Grimsby Town, United need to reach the final of the FA Cup to make it to 45 appearances in all competitions and avoid their lowest total of matches in a single season in the Premier League era.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 BST on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.