Manchester City face fixture pile-up crisis with three decisive matches in seven days

Manchester City are understood to be frustrated after being left facing three decisive fixtures in the space of seven weeks next month. City's match against Crystal Palace, which was postponed from 21 March owing to their participation in the Carabao Cup final, has been scheduled for Wednesday 13 May. The trip to Bournemouth, originally scheduled for 17 May, had to be moved after City progressed to the FA Cup final to face Chelsea on 16 May, and has been slated for 19 May. That leaves Pep Guardiola's men facing two huge matches in the Premier League – where they are three points behind the leaders, Arsenal, with a game in hand – and the Cup final in a week. Arsenal's final home game, against Burnley, has been moved back a day to Monday 18 May. City's frustration is understood to stem primarily from the time it has taken to find an alternative date for the Palace game. It has been known since 4 February – when City beat Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final – that the match would need to be moved, and the club feel that the principle of rescheduling matches for the earliest possible moment has not been followed. Palace's involvement in the Conference League has been a complicating factor. The possibility of playing the match last week had been raised, but because Palace faced West Ham last Monday, it ruled out a midweek date. It is understood City were told by the Premier League that had they lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, the Palace v West Ham match could have been played 24 hours earlier, which would have freed up a midweek slot. The club feel there was an opportunity to play the match against Palace last week, because their match at Burnley – which was played last week – could have been moved to this week or next, when Palace had no free dates owing to European participation. Once that option failed to materialise, City had hoped the Bournemouth game could be brought forward to Tuesday 12 May and the Palace game be played the following midweek. It is understood Uefa wanted to keep 20 May clear for the Europa League final, but there is precedent this season for Premier League matches to be on the same night as Uefa club competition matches, with Arsenal taking on Wolves on 18 February, when four Champions League knockout round playoff games took place. City had also proposed playing Bournemouth on 21 May to allow for a longer recovery period after the FA Cup final – and thought the Premier League was receptive. City declined to comment. The Premier League has been contacted for comment.