LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Premier League clubs set for fixture chaos next season and could be forced to play two games on the SAME DAY
EFL and Uefa have refused to budge on their competitions' dates
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PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are set for fixture chaos next season - and could be forced to play two games on the SAME DAY.
Top-flight sides face the potential of THREE midweek clashes between European competitions and the Carabao Cup.
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The revamped Champions League will see sides play EIGHT games in one bumper group stage, rather than the current six.
According to The Mirror, the two additional match rounds will fall in the final two midweeks of January.
And the extra games have caused havoc with the domestic calendar - already seeing FA Cup replays axed.
The first big clash next season comes on September 17 and 18.
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The third round of the Carabao Cup - when clubs competing in Europe enter the competition - now clashes with the Champions League match day one.
To compensate, Carabao Cup games will now be split across two consecutive midweeks.
However, that September 24/25 date also causes a clash, with the first round of the Europa League scheduled.
It means the effected sides might have to alternate their Carabao Cup games between the two midweeks.
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That would allow Champions League teams to play on September 24 and 25 and those in Europa League to go the week before.
The EFL, which runs the Carabao Cup, has refused to make further allowances for the expanded European schedule.
Huge changes being made to English football schedule next season
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The competition's quarter-final is scheduled for the midweek of December 18 - which clashes with the Europa Conference League.
There appears to be no obvious solution and, should a Premier League side be obliged to compete at both stages, they could have to field two teams at once.
However, European dates appear to have been worked around the traditional two-legged League Cup semi-finals, with the EFL refusing to alter the format.
Both the EFL and Uefa say they will not be held responsible for the fixture clashes.
The FA have agreed a new six-year deal with the Premier League to scrap FA Cup replays.
That decision included £33million extra cash for grassroots football and a longer summer break.
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But the EFL insisted they were not properly consulted and their clubs were left in uproar over the decision.
Chief executive Trevor Birch slammed the “disappointing and frustrating” change while also demanding they receive compensation for the loss in revenue.
Our beautiful game is broken, says Dave Kid
By Dave Kidd
WHEN Manchester United got lucky in their FA Cup semi-final, Antony’s first instinct was to goad heartbroken opponents Coventry. To rub their noses in the dirt.
Antony seems to be a vile individual but this isn’t really about Antony. Because Antony is merely a symptom of the hideous sickness within England’s top flight.
There is so much wrong.
After our elite clubs persuaded the FA to completely scrap Cup replays — which gave us Ronnie Radford and Ricky Villa and Ryan Giggs — without due recompense or reasoning with the rest of English football.
The previous day, after his Manchester City side had defeated Chelsea in the other FA Cup semi-final, Pep Guardiola whinged about the fixture scheduling of TV companies who effectively pay much of his £20m salary.
Up at Wolves, Guardiola’s friend and rival Mikel Arteta was playing the same sad song about fixture congestion, despite his Arsenal side having played two fewer games this season than Coventry — who don’t have £50m squad players to rotate with.
Chelsea, oh Chelsea. The one-time plaything of a Russian oligarch now owned by financially incontinent venture capitalists who have piddled £1billion on a squad of players who fight like weasels in a sack about who should bask in the personal glory of scoring the penalty that puts them 5-0 up against Everton.