Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has slammed the Premier League fixture list as unfair.
The club now faces a grueling schedule that will see them play five games in just 14 days.
Originally, Villa were set to face Liverpool on March 15. However, the match was rescheduled because Liverpool now contest the Carabao Cup Final against Newcastle on that day.
Emery expressed his frustration with the revised schedule. He stated, “The schedule for next week doesn’t make sense.” Moreover, he added, “It’s not fair,” while stressing the imbalance between February and March fixtures.
Consequently, Villa will play numerous matches consecutively in February while only one game is slotted in March. Furthermore, the club finds this arrangement unacceptable given their limited March schedule.
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Villa will host Ipswich at Villa Park on Saturday. In addition, three days later, they face Chelsea, who are also vying for Champions League qualification next season.
Moreover, the match against Ipswich offers Emery a chance to give Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio a first start. They previously came off the bench in last week’s FA Cup fourth-round win over Tottenham.
On the other hand, forward Ollie Watkins and centre-back Tyrone Mings have rejoined training and should feature on Saturday. However, Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Amadou Onana, and Ross Barkley remain sidelined.
In summary, Emery deems the fixture list unfair and demands more balanced scheduling. Ultimately, the upcoming congested period will test Aston Villa’s squad depth and resolve.
