Club unhappy with Christmas scheduling that gives advantage to title rivals
Nine of City's fixtures in December and January have been moved due to TV coverage and rearranged dates.
For the first time, Amazon will be screening Premier League games live, with City's games at Burnley on Tuesday 3rd December and Wolves on Friday 27th December being shown on their platform.
The Manchester derby at The Etihad will now take place at 5.30pm on Saturday 7th December, and will be screened live on Sky Sports. Games against Arsenal, Leicester, Sheffield United, Everton and Aston Villa have also been moved.
The club are unhappy with some of the changes, particularly over the Christmas period where Pep Guardiola's side will have to play twice in three days, whilst title rivals Liverpool have been granted more recovery time.
Omar Berrada, Chief Operating Officer of City, told MEN Sport exclusively: “We’re disappointed that the schedule is so tight for the players over Christmas. Premier League games are a huge physical demand, and it’s not ideal to be made to play twice in less than 48 hours because it doesn’t give the players time to properly recover.
“We obviously understand that the paying rights-holding broadcasters are an important consideration when it comes to scheduling, but we also need to make sure that we protect the players’ wellbeing, the sporting integrity of the league, and the quality of the product.
“We’ve had an open dialogue with the league to consider other options, but ultimately, we will have to comply with the kick off times and dates as they have been presented to us.”
Fixture changes in full:
Tuesday 3 December: Burnley v City, 8:15pm (Amazon)
Saturday 7 December: City v United, 5.30pm (Sky)
Sunday 15 December: Arsenal v City, 4.30pm (Sky)
Saturday 21 December: City v Leicester, 5.30pm (Sky)
Friday 27 December: Wolves v City, 7.45pm (Amazon)
Sunday 29 December: City v Sheffield United, 6pm
Wednesday 1 January: City v Everton, 5.30pm (BT)
Sunday 12 January: Aston Villa v City, 4.30pm (Sky)
Tuesday 21 January: Sheffield United v City, 7.30pm (BT)