MANCHESTER CITY are facing fixture chaos as Premier League clubs meet on Thursday to thrash out a match list for Project Restart.
Pep Guardiola’s men will be worst affected if clubs put back the start date to June 26, as they are still in the FA Cup and Champions League and also have an extra league fixture.
Manchester City could face playing four games in eight daysCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
But along with City, Arsenal, Sheffield United and Aston Villa also face the prospect of having to play four matches in eight days — with managers already concerned over player burnout.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters wants the season to resume on June 19 — allowing clubs to play no more than twice per week.
But many managers believe that date would not give them enough time to get their squads match-fit.
Clubs yesterday voted unanimously to bring back contact training and there is a growing confidence the league will be played to conclusion this summer, with the Bundesliga having already staged three rounds of fixtures since the coronavirus lockdown.
Yet with the league’s finish date set for Sunday August 2 and the FA Cup final pencilled in for Saturday August 8, a June 26 start would leave just six weekends and five midweeks.
In that time, nine full rounds of league fixtures would need to be crammed in as well as the two previously-postponed games — City v Arsenal and Villa v the Blades — plus the Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals in midweek slots.
So a June 26 restart means those four teams may all have to play twice in the same midweek — with the winners of the Sheffield United v Arsenal Cup quarter-final certain to have to do so, as well as City, if they defeat Newcastle in their tie.
The FA are confident there is strong backing to complete the competition from the eight quarter-finalists, with Norwich against Manchester United and Leicester against Chelsea the other ties.
Manchester City are still fighting for Champions League gloryCredit: PA:Press Association
Yet English football’s governing body — already facing a financial black hole of around £150milion — know that any further delay to the Premier League season, with a restart in July, would put the future of this season’s Cup in severe jeopardy.
City could play 17 matches in eight weeks if they reach the Wembley final and the Champions League showpiece in Turkey.
Yet the future of European competitions are clouded in doubt until Uefa’s next executive committee meeting on June 17.
Guardiola’s men still have the home leg of their last-16 tie with Real Madrid to play, although the Government’s quarantine measures, being put in place from June 8, would not currently allow that match to take place.
City were the last Premier League club to return to training on Saturday.
And Guardiola, whose mother died of coronavirus last month, has been understandably less enthusiastic than most about football’s return.
His second-placed City side are realistically unable to catch leaders Liverpool or fall out of the top four, so they have little to play for in the league, with their chief focus on Europe and the Cup.
The top flight may not confirm their intended start date until next week but the machinations over the fixture list are expected to dominate today’s meeting.
City’s stars are stepping up their preparation to returnCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Matches are likely to be staggered over weekends, with five different kick-off times from midday to 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with two different time slots on the evenings of midweek fixtures to maximise on the number of live televised matches.
The Premier League is expected to restart with an A-list Friday match — either the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park or Tottenham v Manchester United.
That first round of fixtures is then likely to be followed by the two outstanding matches, so that every team would have then played 30 times — making it easier to sort out final league positions in the event of a later curtailment.
Pep Guardiola’s mum Dolors Sala Carrio dies after contracting coronavirus aged 82
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
