Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City‘s clash against Arsenal could be axed because of the Premier League’s fixture pile up.
The top two teams in the league are due to meet at the Emirates on Oct. 19, but Guardiola suggested the game could be postponed to accommodate Arsenal’s Europa League game against PSV Eindhoven.
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PSV’s trip to London, scheduled for Thursday, has been moved ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday.
The game will have to be played before the first Europa League knockout draw on Nov. 7 and the week of City’s game against Arsenal is one option for the rearranged date.
“Always the fixtures were so tight every season,” Guardiola told a news conference on Tuesday.
“After the international break, we’ll have one month and a half with a lot of games. We have seven Premier League games, five games at home, it depends if the Arsenal game will be postponed or not. Then the World Cup.”
City haven’t played since the 4-0 win over Sevilla a week ago after this weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures were postponed as a mark of respect for the passing of the queen.
Guardiola, though, said he was concerned at being asked to play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League at 8pm on Wednesday and then against Wolves at Molineux at 12.30pm on Saturday.
“We need a team to win [against Dortmund], that’s so important,” said Guardiola, who has John Stones available after injury but will again be without Kyle Walker.
