It’s perfectly understandable that Manchester City do what is possible to influence the fixture schedule in their favour, but when Guardiola and the gang can level on points with Arsenal in the Premier League title race and win the FA Cup, it creates reactions.
City are out of the Champions League, but have already won the Carabao Cup, while also being ready for the FA Cup final. This is in addition to being a title contender in the Premier League, where every minute of the last few games can decide the title race against Arsenal.
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The many cup matches mean that the match schedule is affected. Originally, City were supposed to face Crystal Palace back in March, but that match was postponed due to their participation in the Carabao Cup final. Now another match has to be postponed due to the FA Cup final. This time against Bournemouth.
BBC Sport writes that it has originally been suggested that the postponed match against Palace would be played on 13 May, while the match against Bournemouth could be played the following week, 19 May.
This is a bad idea, Manchester City believes.
According to the BBC, City’s management is trying to swap the two games. The game against Bournemouth would then be played on May 12, which would be an advantage for City, as they have one more day’s rest before the FA Cup final, which comes between the two games.
The twelfth of May would not be possible against Crystal Palace, as they are still in the Europa Conference League and therefore had to play the Premier League on the Sunday before the eventual match against City. In addition, it would also mean that Manchester City would end up with two home games in the hunt for Premier League gold.
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According to BBC Sport, at least three clubs are very upset that City are trying to influence the fixture schedule in this way. It does not mention which clubs. It is also not known when the aforementioned matches will get a match date.
What is certain is that every single day of rest, or added home advantage in the last, decisive Premier League game, can be decisive.
