A report had been released in the weekend that anxious and determined to calm the stormy waters, the Premier League are considering an ambitious plan to cram the rest of the domestic season into a six-week span.
The Telegraph has reported news of the latest plan being mulled over that involves matches commencing on June 1st that would be played out over the following six weeks so as not to overlap and run into the new season that’s been orginally planned to begin on August 8th. The resumption of the currently suspended games would take place behind closed doors without spectators.
The news report has further disclosed that this plan also includes the FA Cup. In the event that the news bears credibility, it would be interesting to have a look at what that possible fixture list might look like for Arsenal, if they were to reach the FA Cup final and had to play their 10 league games between six weeks later June 1st and July 12th.
- Monday, June 1st – Manchester City vs Arsenal
- Thursday, June 4th – Brighton vs Arsenal
- Sunday, June 7th – Sheffield United vs Arsenal
- Wednesday, June 10th – Southampton vs Arsenal
- Saturday, June 13th – Arsenal vs Norwich
- Tuesday, June 16th – Wolves vs Arsenal
- Saturday, June 20th – FA Cup semi-final
- Wednesday, June 24th – Arsenal vs Leicester
- Sunday, June 28th – Spurs vs Arsenal
- Wednesday, July 1st – Arsenal vs Liverpool
- Saturday, July 4th – Aston Villa vs Arsenal
- Wednesday, July 8th – Arsenal vs Watford
- Sunday, July 12th – FA Cup final
In a nutshell, this jam-packed fixture would actually mean having to play a game every single mid-week without fail. Just the very thought of making the journey to Manchester, Brighton, Sheffield and Southampton in just 10 days is already horrifying.
Of course, these matches were originally scheduled to run between March 11th and May 23rd. With the latest possibility of cramming the rest of the PL schedule into six weeks, that would be cramming 74 days into 45, intneisfying the fixture list and making it busier by 64%.
No mention has been made of the European matches and it is not far-fetched at this juncture to presume that the plan is to scrap them altogether, judging from the current state of events left in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic situation.