EPL 2021-22: Manchester United lodges official complaint about crunch scheduling

Record 20-time former English Premier League (EPL) champion Manchester United has suffered a setback in its bid to finish top four this season. Following the rearranged schedule announced by EPL on Monday, the Red Devils will have three crucial matches against the top sides in just nine days. As a result, the club has decided to lodge an official complaint.

While United takes on Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday night, it will be followed by Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Saturday and Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday. The game against The Blues was brought ahead due to Thomas Tuchel’s men advancing to the FA Cup final. Moreover, even more, surprising is that United has a gap of 15 days between its final two league games of the season.

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The Guardian reports that United officials contacted the EPL to question the integrity of this crunch scheduling, while the other clubs in the top-four race do not have such gruelling schedules. Club manager Ralf Rangnick was also surprised at the Chelsea game being brought ahead. Meanwhile, The Blues will face The Reds in the FA Cup final on May 14 at the Wembley Stadium, which is quite far from now.

“The fact that the Chelsea game was changed from the original fixture is something I didn’t think could happen. Normally in Germany, the last two games of the season have to be played on the same day and with the same kick-off time. Obviously, it’s different here,” Rangnick told MUTV.

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“For us, it’s not good because we have some injured players, so it would have been better for the Chelsea game to be played two weeks later than originally planned. But anyway, we have to deal with it, and hopefully, we will have two or three of those injured players available again,” concluded Rangnick.