Arteta vows Arsenal will fight ‘crazy’ schedule

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has bemoaned his team’s schedule since the Premier League restart, stating his players have accumulated “crazy minutes” on the pitch in recent weeks.

The Gunners host Premier League champions Liverpool tonight, three days after falling to defeat to Tottenham in the north London derby. Arteta has just three days to prepare as hopes of European qualification continue to fade, with Liverpool having an extra day’s rest having drawn with Burnley on Saturday.

In five games that followed their opening game after the restart – a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City – Arsenal’s opponents have had more time to prepare.

“We have only had an advantage in one – which was against Spurs,” Arteta was quoted as saying by the Press

Association. “All teams had at least 24, 36 or 48 hours more than us.

“But look at the boys, they keep going, they go full gas, it doesn’t matter and we will do it again. We are not going to change it if the fixtures are already there. So we will keep going and try our best.”

An FA Cup semi-final against City is next up for Arsenal after the Liverpool clash. Arteta is hoping to field his strongest side in both games, despite the demands placed on his players.

“Today and tomorrow we will asses the players and how they are,” he added.“Obviously they’ve been hit and a lot of them have played some crazy minutes up until now and again we’re going to have games every two-and-half days. We will try to put the strongest team out possible here as well on Saturday, and to do that we need to know how everyone recovers from the game.”