Manchester City are in negotiations with the Premier League over a delicate fixture congestion in the week running up to the final day of the season.
City have two matches, against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, that need rearranging – and those will come either side of the FA Cup final with Chelsea on May 16.
Palace would usually be staged before City’s trip to Bournemouth, in line with the League’s directive that the game scheduled first in the calendar takes precedence. But City are hoping to switch the fixtures, which would in theory take them to three matches across eight days rather than seven.
Were they to remain in calendar order, Palace can only play the game at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday May 13, due to Conference League commitments and their own fixture pile-up.
Meanwhile, UEFA would rather not have the Bournemouth game clash with their Europa League final a week later – particularly given there will be English involvement in that competition.
In that scenario, Pep Guardiola’s side will play Wednesday, Saturday and then Tuesday - before all 20 sides play in the season finale five days later. If their appeals for a change in running order were approved then avoiding travelling to the south coast in the days after a final at Wembley would be considered more advantageous, with the title race set to go down to the wire.
Arsenal would feel like the victors were City going to Bournemouth during the final week. The Premier League have yet to release the dates for either fixture.
Only a fortnight out from the first rearranged match, supporters are facing what feels like a last-minute decision on scheduling at the most important juncture of the season.
Remaining Games in Premier League Title Race
- Arsenal: P34, 73pts – Wed Apr 29: A Madrid (A) CL, Sat May 2: Fulham (H) PL, Tues May 5: A Madrid (H) CL, Sun May 10: W Ham (A) PL, Sun May 17: Burnley (H) PL, Sun May 24: C Palace (A) PL
- Man City: P33, 70pts – Mon May 4: Everton (A), Sat May 9: Brentford (H), Sat May 16: Chelsea FA Cup final, TBC: Bournemouth (A), TBC: Crystal Palace (H), Sun May 24: Aston Villa (H)
