Manchester City confronts a challenging fixture schedule in the season’s closing stages, with dates still pending for two crucial Premier League matches. The team has five league games left, but confirmed schedules exist for only three.

Confirmed Fixtures

City travels to Everton on Bank Holiday Monday for an evening kickoff, followed by a home match against Brentford at the Etihad Stadium next Saturday teatime. The campaign concludes with a home clash against Aston Villa on Sunday, May 24.

Postponed Matches and Rescheduling

The home game versus Crystal Palace, originally postponed due to City’s Carabao Cup final commitment, remains undated. Similarly, the trip to Bournemouth next month conflicts with the FA Cup final, requiring a new slot.

Crystal Palace continues in the Conference League with a two-legged semifinal against Shakhtar Donetsk this week and next. Scheduling constraints prevent fitting the Bournemouth fixture this week, and City’s Monday trip to Everton blocks next week as well. Both matches will thus occur in the final fortnight.

City prefers hosting Bournemouth first for sporting and travel efficiency. However, with the Palace game postponed earlier and the Conference League final post-Premier League season, organizers may prioritize chronological order. This could place Palace at home on Wednesday, May 13—after their Sunday matchup with Everton on May 10—with Bournemouth following the next week.

UEFA Complications

A major hurdle arises from the Europa League final on Wednesday, May 20. UEFA typically avoids overlapping domestic league games with European finals, especially with Premier League sides Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the semifinals.

This may shift the Bournemouth away game to Tuesday, May 19—just three days after the FA Cup final at Wembley. Such timing creates back-to-back long-distance trips with minimal training recovery.

While it provides extra preparation time before the Villa finale—and possibly an additional rest day if Unai Emery’s Aston Villa reaches the Europa final in Istanbul—it crams five games into 16 days during a pivotal phase.

Pep Guardiola described this fixture congestion as ‘terrible’ following the FA Cup semifinal victory over Southampton. To surpass Arsenal at the top, City must navigate this demanding run.