Manchester City are locked in a battle for the Premier League title with Arsenal but the fixture schedule could be cruel for the Blues
Players of Manchester City pose for a team photograph prior to the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester City and Southampton at Wembley Stadium
Manchester City face a hectic run-in as they chase glory in the Premier League and FA Cup
View Image
Manchester City could face a fixture nightmare in the closing weeks of the season as the Blues await dates for two defining Premier League matches.
The Blues have five league games remaining but only have dates for three of them. City visit Everton on Bank Holiday Monday for an evening kick off before welcoming Brentford to the Etihad next Saturday teatime. The final day sees Pep Guardiola's side take on Aston Villa on Sunday, May 24.
But the home game with Crystal Palace, initially called off due to City's involvement in the Carabao Cup final, and the trip to Bournemouth next month which will now need a new date as it clashes with the FA Cup final, are still to be arranged.
Palace are still in the Conference League and have a two-legged semi-final against Shakhtar Donetsk this week and next. It's too short notice to slot Bournemouth into the schedule for this week, and City's Monday night trip to Everton means it can't take place next week either.
That means the two outstanding matches will take place in the final fortnight of the campaign. City would likely prefer to play Bournemouth first, for sporting and logistical reasons, but given the Palace game was the first one to be postponed and the Conference League final takes place after the conclusion of the top-flight season, the Premier League may seek to rearrange the games in chronological order.
That would likely see the home game with Palace take place on Wednesday, May 13, given Palace have a Sunday date with Everton on May 10, with the trip to Bournemouth the week after. The snag for City is the Europa League final, which takes place on Wednesday, May 20. Generally speaking UEFA prefer to avoid domestic matches taking place at the same time as European games - particularly finals and particularly as the Premier League will have a representative in the European showpiece with Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest meeting in the last four.
That could mean City travel to Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 19, just three days after the FA Cup final at Wembley, meaning back to back lengthy trips and next to no training time. While it would afford City a longer run-in to the Villa game on the final day of the campaign, and potentially an extra day's rest compared to their opponents if Unai Emery's side make the final in Istanbul, it would condense five games into 16 days at a crucial period of the campaign.
It's a fixture pile-up that Pep Guardiola labelled as 'terrible' after the FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton but if City want to overhaul Arsenal at the top of the table they are going to have to do it the hard way.