Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been critical of the Premier League’s scheduling which he believes puts his side at a disadvantage. ‘Thank you so much,’ he said regarding the tournament’s scheduling sarcastically when asked about Arsenal’s congested games.
The Gunners suffered a 0-2 loss against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium, with Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino finding the back of the net in the second half. Liverpool have closed the gap with Manchester City at the top down to just a single point, but Arsenal will now have to shake off the loss and continue with their race for the top four.
Following the mid-week clash against Liverpool, the North London club will have to travel to Aston Villa in Saturday’s early kick-off, a sequence which they will have to repeat in a month’s time when they face Chelsea and Manchester United within the space of three days.
In a press conference, Arteta confirmed that the club have raised the issue officially with the Premier League and also took a sarcastic jibe at the league’s scheduling.
“Thank you so much to the Premier League to do that. Don’t worry the players on Saturday they will be there, with energy. They will eat, sleep well, but thank you so much to the Premier League for putting the fixtures like this. Very, very helpful.
“It is not fair. It is not fair what they have done. It is always ‘it’s BT, it’s Sky, it is this, it’s that’ – but the one that is affected is Arsenal and the only thing that I care (about) and we care (about) is Arsenal. And for Arsenal it is not fair.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has made it clear that he is not stressed about what Manchester City do and that his team are only focussed on winning as many of their games as possible.
“I know the only chance we have is to win an insane amount of football games because our opponents win an incredible amount of football games,”
the German said.
