Arsenal disagree with Palace’s request to play on December 23 with Palace set to play three games in five days.
Arsenal oppose Crystal Palace’s ‘unfair’ request to play Carabao Cup tie on 23 December.
Mikel Arteta has stated that it would not be fair to force both clubs to play two games in less than 48 hours, and Arsenal has strongly objected to Crystal Palace’s desire that their Carabao Cup quarterfinal be played on December 23.
The match is set for Tuesday, December 16. Palace will play three games in five days, including a Conference League meeting against KuPS on December 18 and a Premier League match at home against Manchester City two days prior.
Palace is said to have contended that both sides should have an equal amount of time to get ready for the quarterfinal, since Arsenal will face Wolves at home 24 hours before Palace plays City.
They would have agreed to play on Christmas Eve in order to give the players three days to recuperate from their games on Sunday, December 21. However, after consulting with Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police, they swiftly decided against it due to worries about the availability of public transport, as rail and tube services were scheduled to end early.
As the home team in control of matchday operations, Arsenal was adamantly against playing on Christmas Eve. Two years ago on December 24, Wolves played Chelsea in the first Premier League Christmas Eve game since 1995. Since it was a Sunday, the game could begin in the afternoon, but this year it is a working Wednesday.
Since Palace’s match against Leeds two days prior begins at the same time as Arsenal’s visit to Everton, Palace has since requested that Tuesday, December 23, be taken into consideration. According to EFL sources, they prefer that date on the grounds of fairness.
Arsenal is reportedly determined that the match should take place in the original time window and have resisted the idea of both sides playing two games with a day off in between during discussions with the EFL. Next week, a decision is anticipated.
When it was suggested that the quarter-final could be moved to help Palace, Arteta said: “I don’t think that’s fair, because we have other competitions as well we have to try to accommodate. 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.”
Asked whether 23 December could be an option, he said: “No, there are others. There are others, believe me, there are other options much better than this one. We already suggested that.”
His Palace counterpart, Oliver Glasner, said it would be “irresponsible” for his team to play on 16 December. “I can’t believe that it will be fixed in that way,” he said. “I think it would be irresponsible for the players. And everybody has a responsibility for the players … It’s dangerous, irresponsible to say that you should play Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday.” He said he was “really upset” wider scheduling issues had not been resolved by the leagues and governing bodies.