Arsenal are currently due to face Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on December 23
Crystal Palace and Arsenal’s hopes of resolving their Carabao Cup quarter-final fixture row have been dealt yet another blow – after UEFA rejected a request from the Eagles to move their final Conference League group stage clash.
Palace play Finnish side KuPS on December 18 but they want to bring their Premier League trip to Leeds on December 21 forward, so they have an extra day of rest before facing Arsenal.
However, UEFA insist all final Conference League group fixtures must be played on the same date, at the same time.
Arsenal, like Palace, have also written to the Premier League to express their concerns over player welfare in in the hope their trip to Everton on December 21 will also be moved.
But Premier League chiefs feel the fixture pileup is simply a consequence of the recent expansion of UEFA competitions.
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UEFA’s decision to block Palace’s request means Oliver Glasner’s side would still face two matches in three days – even if the Leeds fixture at Elland Road was brought forward.
Meanwhile, EFL sources do not anticipate any further changes to their quarter-final schedule and expect Arsenal versus Palace to go ahead as planned on December 23. The game was initially pencilled in for December 16 but was later pushed back.
Palace are currently facing the prospect of playing four games in nine days next month before the festive schedule even kicks in.
The gruelling run starts when they host Manchester City on December 14 before the visit of KuPS and two successive away trips to Leeds and Arsenal.
Glasner hit out at football’s authorities for failing to prioritise player welfare during a press conference on Wednesday.
The Palace boss said: “It’s not about the welfare of the players. It’s not about talking together and find what’s best. Everybody is just looking at himself to maximise the money.
“That’s the situation. Now we can say it’s the UEFA schedule. It was clear this week before Christmas there is the Conference League played. It’s clear, 99 per cent, that the English participants will play there. So why fix the Carabao quarter-final there? Why? I just don’t understand. Again, it was clear.
“Then I think, maybe somebody corrects me, there is a hierarchy in football. So it’s the UEFA games, it’s the Premier League games and then I don’t know how it’s FA or EFL or it’s on the same level. And then if there is a UEFA game day, you can’t say we play the quarter-final.”
Meanwhile, Arteta remains confident the Premier League will step in and prevent both Arsenal and Palace from having to play two matches in the space of just three days.
The Spanish head coach said ahead of his team’s trip to Sunderland: “Well I’m super optimistic that this is not going to be the case because from every angle, from the Premier League, from the EFL, from UEFA, all the time the only thing that we talk about is the welfare of the players and the supporters and if we want to maintain that principle that cannot be the case and we cannot play Sunday and Tuesday.”
