MIKEL ARTETA is begging Premier League bosses to do Arsenal a festive fixture favour.
The Gunners face playing twice in three days after their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace was moved to December 23.
Palace’s request to reschedule the game from its original December 16 slot was granted as they would have had a tighter turnaround than Arteta’s men.
But now it’s left both teams with just over 48 hours to recover from their respective Premier League commitments on December 21.
Arsenal are due to play Everton on that Sunday. But with the Toffees out of the cup and the Gunners free the midweek prior, there is nothing – aside from TV agreements – standing in the way of the match being brought forward.
Arteta said: “Hopefully they will move the Premier League match [against Everton] because to play it on this date doesn’t make any sense.
“So we will now decide the date. I’m sure they will change the Premier League date as well. I’ll leave that to the club.
“I think we’re very clear what was the best thing, the most logical date to play. They brought a different date, so I’m sure we’ll have to adapt to that.
“I think as I said earlier, I’m sure we will apply the principles of first of all the players, then the supporters, and then the times that we need to have equality and the same chances for every club. So hopefully it will be fair.”
Arsenal are fighting on multiple fronts this season and their squad is already feeling the strain.
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Viktor Gyokeres is the latest to enter the treatment room, joining Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke and Martin Zubimendi.
Leandro Trossard is getting more game time as a result, but he’s still concerned about the busy period ahead.
He said: “Obviously, it’s not ideal. We already have a tough schedule with a lot of games, and if you play two games in three days, recovery-wise, first of all, and then obviously [for the] fans, it’s not easy to travel always.
“But at this moment you just have to deal with it, I guess, and that’s what we’re going to do now.
“Obviously, it’s up to the people who make the calendar at the start of the year. I think they should know that these kinds of things can happen, and with a lot of players already mentioning that there are a lot of games, I think they should [know].”
