Manchester City are pushing the Premier League to go against their own directives and swap fixtures around to suit City’s needs, according to reports.
Following Manchester City’s win in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton, Pep Guardiola’s side need to have their penultimate Premier League fixture against Bournemouth rescheduled, as it currently clashes with the FA Cup final.
City also still need to schedule in their postponed fixture against Crystal Palace, which has been pushed back multiple times due to City’s progression in the cups and Palace’s progression in Europe.
There are two available slots for the two games, with the first in the midweek of May 12th-13th, and the second in the midweek of May 19th-21st (the game can’t be on Wednesday 20th, as that’s the date of the Europa League final and must be kept free).
The Premier League’s directive is clear, that the game originally scheduled first in the calendar takes precedence. Since the Palace game was postponed first, it should be scheduled first, and Bournemouth will be the next week.
So, what’s the problem?
The Daily Mail, the BBC, and the Mirror all report that Manchester City have decided this option doesn’t suit them.
The Palace game likely wouldn’t be scheduled for May 12th, as Palace are already due to play on May 7th and 10th. So that means the game taking place on the 13th, giving City a day less to prepare for their FA Cup final on May 16th.
In addition, the Bournemouth game would then take place on May 19th or May 21st, with Bournemouth getting a long break to rest ahead of the match, whilst City would have the FA Cup final and the Premier League final day either side of the fixture.
City want to flip the games around to solve both of their problems. The Bournemouth game could take place on May 12th (unlike the Palace match), giving them an extra day to prepare for the cup final and giving them an opponent with much less time to prepare and rest.
As an added bonus, they’d be playing Palace in the final week, when their minds are likely to be distracted by a potential Europa Conference League final.
Understandably, no one else is very happy about the idea of City swapping things around, going against the Premier League’s directives to suit their own needs.
John Cross writes in the Mirror’s report that there’s been backlash from other clubs, who are rallying against City getting special favours from the fixture schedule.
Sami Mokbel reports for the BBC that Bournemouth and Palace are also involved in discussions, and that the Premier League is expected to make an announcement soon.
As for the fans, they’re all left waiting and wondering what’s going to happen, and when they can book tickets and travel. Which is nothing new.
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