Blues face challenging run of fixtures in the lead up to Christmas
As things stands at the moment, Manchester City will play eight games in the month of December, so it is very busy for the club. There could be a ninth, if City beat West Ham in their EFL Cup game at the end of this month, that will put them in the quarter finals, which are to be played on December 21 & 22.
City are down to play every weekend in December, which is nothing unusual, but it is the midweek games on top of that which makes this spell much tougher. At the start of December, there are two rounds of midweek Premier League action, plus the Champions League group stage which comes to an end. At the end of the month, City will play another Premier League midweek game and then in between those, there is that potential EFL Cup quarter final.
Looking at the fixtures that City are playing, they will be expected to win the majority of them and going through the month undefeated is a realistic aim for the club. This does all depend on how they handle the number of games though. Fans, and general football viewers, will be keeping an eye on this to see how Pep Guardiola manages his squad, and what that means for results. Under normal circumstances, City would be expected to win most if not all, which would normally appeal to those with better offers new customers UK can use alongside their football betting.
Is The Schedule Fair for City?
While things look tough in December for the team, this is very similar to what everyone else has to do in what is always a busy football month. If a team is in Europe, and they are in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup, they too will have to play the same number of games.
With that in mind, the question turns to is this fair on everyone in the Premier League? There has been a lot of talk about player burnout in the past, and by scheduling so much, we risk running into that again. Next season is going to be different, with the World Cup scheduled for winter, and perhaps the changes in the schedule we see because of this could be implemented into future seasons.
Players are unlikely to want to prolong the season any further than it already is, however, this could have a benefit during the season, if players are happy to look at the bigger, overall picture. For every week the season is extended, midweek games such as those being played in December will be moved away and onto a weekend. Changes to the season would of course be big Manchester City news, but this is perhaps an unrealistic aim at the moment.
The number of games will remain the same, but how they are spread out will improve. Playing once a week over a slightly longer period, instead of having midweek rounds back to back with each other, would more than likely be the best of two bad scenarios for players in the English top flight.