Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says it would not be fair to move the club’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace to Dec. 23, with the Eagles seeking an alternative date for the fixture amid an unprecedented pile-up of matches.
December is traditionally a month where at least seven Premier League games are crammed in, offering broadcasters live midweek coverage in addition to the glut of football usually penned in for the Christmas period.
This season is no different—despite the traditional Boxing Day slate featuring just one game—and clubs in European competition also have to balance their continental duties with domestic cup duties, should they make it through to the latter stages of the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal and Palace have done just that, overcoming Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool in the fourth round respectively, and their quarter-final clash has been scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16. But that gives Oliver Glasner’s Eagles are a scarcely believable run of three matches in five days—Manchester City are due to visit Selhurst Park two days prior in the Premier League before Palace take on KuPS in the Conference League two days later.
As such, Palace are looking to move the game, with Arsenal facing Wolves a day before City head to south London. Playing on Christmas Eve has been ruled out after consultation with the Metropolitan police and Transport for London, leading to Tuesday, Dec. 23 being proposed as a potential option.
That’s not something Arsenal or Arteta are on board with, though, as the Spaniard outlined in his latest news conference that the Gunners have to consider their own interests and hectic schedule.
“I don’t think that’s fair, because we have other competitions as well we have to try to accommodate,” Arteta remarked. “We knew at the start of the season the competitions that each club is playing in … On balance we have to try to accommodate the best possible way for everybody.”
Specifically discussing the proposed Dec. 23 date and whether it would work, he said: “No, there are others. There are others, believe me, there are other options much better than this one. We already suggested that.”
The EFL, who govern the Carabao Cup, are yet to make an official ruling, with both teams expected to find out in the coming week when the game will be played. It’s likely one party will be disappointed by the outcome—just who that is remains to be seen.
