The pace of football is getting even more intense with each passing season, and this year will be especially demanding. The new Champions League format brings more matches, and there’s also the Club World Cup, which will be played after the conclusion of domestic leagues, from June 15 to July 13. This is why Manchester City and Chelsea, the two clubs that will represent English football in the United States during that period, have requested that the Premier League postpone the start of the new season. City and Chelsea wanted to give their players more recovery time, but although no decision has been made yet, neither the Etihad nor Stamford Bridge expect the Premier League to grant their request.”Was your day yesterday the same as today?” ⭐Pep Guardiola says he doesn’t like to look at previous records when approaching a match, after being told the club’s previous success rate at Fulham ⬇ pic.twitter.com/PzStVYH3CL— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 4, 2024 At least that’s how Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola sees the situation, revealing that the clubs have already submitted their proposal to the Premier League officials during discussions about the impact the new tournament could have on the players’ fitness.”The Premier League has not allowed Chelsea and us to postpone the first matches to help us recover — thanks for that! I think the club asked the Premier League to delay the first and second matches, the first two to three weeks, so we could have a week or two more to rest after the Club World Cup. The Premier League agreeing to help us? No way! Absolutely not, it won’t happen. If they don’t postpone those matches, we’ll find ourselves asking, ‘Oh, what do we do now?’ I don’t have the right answer to that question because I’ve never been in this situation, I don’t know. We’ll make a decision based on common sense“ said the Spanish manager pessimistically. The Big Six – managers who hold (un)breakable recordsA common-sense solution would be for Guardiola to evenly distribute playing time among his players. However, journalists reminded the Spanish coach that FIFA’s regulations for the Club World Cup state that clubs must field their “strongest players.””FIFA says we have to bring our strongest players to the Club World Cup? Who are our strongest players? Will FIFA tell me who my strongest players are? I don’t understand that! I’m not going to ask them which players should play, that’s my decision” Guardiola was clear.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 7Saturday 14.30: (6.00) Crystal Palace (4.10) Liverpool (1.55)17.00: (1.15) Arsenal (8.00) Southampton (16.0)17.00: (2.10) Brentford (3.50) Wolverhampton (3.80)17.00: (3.35) Leicester (3.50) Bournemouth (2.25)17.00: (1.28) Man.City (6.75) Fulham (10.5)17.00: (1.85) West Ham (3.60) Ipswich (4.30)19.30: (3.20) Everton (3.50) Newcastle (2.20)Sunday 16.00: (2.25) Aston Villa (3.50) Man.Utd. (3.10)16.00: (1.47) Chelsea (4.40) Nott.Forest (6.75)18.30: (3.05) Brighton (3.70) Tottenham (2.35)***odds are subject to change***
