Manchester City have reportedly claimed that Liverpool have been given a boost with the planning of the festive fixtures.
In a statement to the Manchester Evening News, Omar Berrada, Chief Operating Officer of Man City, revealed that he is disappointed with the scheduling, believing that the “sporting integrity” of the league is under threat.
Berrada said:
We’re disappointed that the schedule is so tight for the players over Christmas. Premier League games are a huge physical demand, and it’s not ideal to be made to play twice in less than 48 hours because it doesn’t give the players time to properly recover.
We obviously understand that the paying rights-holding broadcasters are an important consideration when it comes to scheduling, but we also need to make sure that we protect the players’ wellbeing, the sporting integrity of the league, and the quality of the product.
We’ve had an open dialogue with the league to consider other options, but ultimately, we will have to comply with the kick off times and dates as they have been presented to us.
Several Liverpool fans took to Twitter to voice their opinions on the matter, with many finding City’s comments laughable.
Twitter: @City_Xtra @spbajko Man City complaining about integrity ??? (@patrick_wraith)
Twitter: @City_Xtra @spbajko Deal with it like other teams have in the past. A £10bn squad should be able to handle 2 games. (@ash_mcnally90)
Twitter: @City_Xtra @spbajko You do know that we’re in the club World Cup! right! ? (@Darren__1996)
Twitter: @City_Xtra @spbajko Laughable!!!! (@nevjamo)
Twitter: @City_Xtra @spbajko Best get ur excuses in early City ? (@EastCoastRed1)
Read Liverpool’s verdict
The fact that Man City are already making excuses about how ‘Liverpool have it easier’ is comical.
Surely they realise Liverpool have the Club World Cup as well, so will obviously have a backlog of fixtures to make up.
If City are to retain their league then they’ll have to be the better side of the same amount of games as Liverpool, so they should really stop with these excuses.
