Inside Elland Road: Brenden Aaronson praise
Leeds United could see one of next month’s Premier League fixtures changed a short notice.
Crystal Palace have asked for next month’s Premier League trip to Leeds United to be moved in a bid to ease fixture congestion.
Palace are currently due to face Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday December 21, with the game initially pushed back from the Saturday due to the former’s midweek commitments. Oliver Glasner’s side host Finnish outfit KuPS in the Europa Conference League on Thursday December 18 and standard procedure is to have two clear days between fixtures.
But Palace’s progression to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, and subsequent draw against Arsenal, presented a major problem for those in charge of the fixture schedule. The Eagles were initially scheduled to play twice in the week building up to Leeds but their cup meeting with the Gunners is now confirmed for December 23, which arrives on the Tuesday after their Elland Road trip.
Arsenal have already requested their Sunday December 21 meeting with Everton be moved to allow proper rest ahead of hosting Palace. And Eagles boss Glasner wants the same treatment for his side’s meeting with Leeds.
"We are trying the same thing that Arsenal are trying, to move our Leeds game forward to Saturday, so we don't have two days between these games,” he said. “We didn't get a response until now from the Premier League, just to have the same as Arsenal, if their game is moved.”
Whatever the decision, Palace are facing an incredibly busy December with that trip to Leeds the fourth of five fixtures in 12 days. Their progression to the last eight of the Carabao Cup has caused chaos with no midweek availability until the end of January.
Leeds United trip remains an issue for Crystal Palace
And there will still be issues even if Palace’s trip to Leeds is brought forward to the Saturday, which would give the London club just one full day of rest following their Thursday-evening game against KuPS. It appears Glasner would prefer the extra recovery time ahead of their Carabao Cup clash.
"I am always talking about making mistakes being part of development,” he added of the unfortunate situation. "I think that the EFL and the Premier League didn't solve this problem before the start of the season.
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“They will learn from it and I am pretty sure that next year they will have the solution before the start of the season. Maybe they needed this experience to solve it, not to rely that it won't happen."
Leeds were eliminated from the Carabao Cup at round two and have no European commitments, allowing full weeks to rest and recover between games currently. The fixture list gets a little busier over the festive period, as is tradition, but their only midweek commitments come amid a full round of Premier League fixtures.
Daniel Farke’s side host Chelsea on Wednesday December 3 with their only other weekday fixture coming at Liverpool on New Year’s Day, which is a Thursday. The Whites then travel to Newcastle United on Wednesday December 7, which is again part of a full round of fixtures.
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