Silva slams unfair schedule as Palmer injury clouds Blues

MANCHESTER City captain Bernardo Silva has criticised football’s schedule makers for lacking respect and fairness after his side were given little time to prepare for their clash with Arsenal.

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City kicked off their 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday just 66 hours after the final whistle in their Uefa Champions League home win over Napoli.

While Pep Guardiola’s team had virtually no time to rest and recover from the Napoli match before the crucial Premier League showdown in north London, Arsenal had played their Champions League opener at Athletic Bilbao 48 hours earlier on Tuesday.

Silva felt City’s tiredness was decisive as Arsenal dominated after Erling Haaland’s early strike before Gabriel Martinelli snatched a stoppage-time equaliser.

Guardiola had named an unchanged side against Arsenal rather than rotating his players, but Silva insisted the fixture list was to blame for City’s late frustration.

“The reality is we cannot come into one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage in terms of rest. It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right,” he said.

“They had five days and we had two and a half days. In one of the most important games, this cannot happen. It is just not enough.