David De Gea criticized the Premier League schedule given to Manchester United before facing Arsenal this weekend. According to him, the Gunners benefited from having longer rest periods.
MU had just been held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace in the Premier League continued, Thursday (19/1/2023) early morning WIB. Meanwhile, Arsenal did not play in the middle of this week. They have a week off since beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 last Sunday.
This difference in rest time was highlighted by De Gea. Moreover, MU’s visit to Selhurst Park resulted in Casemiro’s fifth yellow card this season, so he had to miss against Arsenal and became a loss for Erik ten Hag’s squad.
“To lose Casemiro on Sunday is a big loss,” De Gea told Sky Sports.
“I don’t understand why Arsenal didn’t play and we should have played the same week but they didn’t. Now we have lost one of our best players.”
“I don’t understand this. Now we have lost him for an important match and this is a big loss for us,” said the goalkeeper from Spain.
Mirror reported, the Crystal Palace vs MU match was supposed to be held on September 11 2022, but was postponed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Arsenal actually also have a postponed match against Manchester City for similar reasons.
It’s just that, the Arsenal vs Man City match has been shifted to February 16. Meanwhile, the Crystal Palace vs MU match cannot be moved to next month because the Red Devils must face Barcelona in the Europa League playoffs on February 15.
Arsenal, who are also playing in the Europa League, do not need to go through the playoffs because they are certain to advance to the last 16 after finishing first in the group stage. MU must go through the playoffs because it only finished runner-up.
That way, it can be explained why MU was put to play against Crystal Palace this weekend. It’s just that, De Gea’s anxiety can actually be understood because MU doesn’t have much time. The schedule against Crystal Palace was only announced earlier this month.
Arsenal are currently at the top of the Premier League standings with 47 points from 18 matches. While MU ranks third with 39 points from 19 matches. Arsenal vs MU will take place at the Emirates Stadium, Sunday (22/1) at 23.30 WIB.
(adp/adp)
