Arteta slams 'terrible' Premier League schedule after Arsenal climb level with City

Mikel Arteta rounded on the Premier League’s fixture schedulers after Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates on Saturday, condemning a turnaround he described as “terrible” following Wednesday’s away draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes secured all three points and moved Arsenal level with Manchester City at the top of the table.

Arteta made five changes from the 2-2 draw in Munich — one enforced — and was blunt about why. “We were given a terrible schedule,” he said at his post-match press conference. “We have overcome every hurdle and I love the mentality of the team.”

The Arsenal manager pointed to the physical toll of the Bayern fixture as the key concern. “In Munich, it was one of the most physical games we’ve played in four years,” he said. “The shift that we put in was incredible and then we have to play on Saturday at 3pm, so we needed those legs, that freshness as well. Players are in good moments and they need minutes. They all did really well.”

Arteta noted the contrast with Manchester United, the only other Premier League side to play an away European fixture on Wednesday, whose weekend game was scheduled for 4:30pm on Sunday — giving them a significantly longer recovery window.

Despite the scheduling grievance, Arteta was satisfied with how his squad responded across a punishing six-day stretch that also included a trip to Nottingham Forest the previous Sunday. “We’ve had three games in less than six days so we knew how tough it was going to be,” he said. “I thought the team performed really well — really active from the beginning, put a lot of pressure on the opposition.”

He highlighted Arsenal’s first set-piece goal of the season as a turning point. “We scored from a set piece — the first one this season — and that gave us the confidence and composure to go and dominate the game. But until we scored the second goal, we knew it was game on.”

One concern to emerge from the victory was the fitness of Riccardo Calafiori, who could miss Arsenal’s Carabao Cup fourth-round tie at Fleetwood in midweek. “He had a slight issue,” Arteta confirmed. “We don’t know what it is. It seems very small.”