MX23RW : Wednesday, March 12 13:51:06| >> :600:99173:99173:

Sam Allardyce criticises Premier League over fixture scheduling

Sam Allardyce criticises Premier League over fixture scheduling
© Reuters
West Brom are nine points from safety with time running out.

West Brom boss Sam Allardyce has again rounded on the Premier League ahead of the Baggies' crucial derby at Aston Villa.

Albion are second bottom and nine points from safety ahead of Sunday's trip to Villa Park after Thursday's 3-0 defeat at Leicester.

Allardyce hit out at the Premier League's scheduling, with Villa having had 24 hours more recovery time than the Baggies after they lost 2-1 to Manchester City on Wednesday.

The boss had previously been critical as he wanted to play Villa last weekend and was also upset when Albion's game against Everton last month was rescheduled at short notice.

"There are small margins in this game and the fact we can't recover as much as Aston Villa has massively disadvantaged us," said Allardyce.

"People can say we are making excuses before we start but it's a fact. They didn't need to give us this game (Leicester) on this day. If you did then you certainly didn't need to give us the next game on Sunday.

"Villa played on Wednesday and Leicester are playing next Monday. Why us? We got the same treatment, extremely poorly, a few weeks ago when we played Fulham and Newcastle.

"They were going to be two of the biggest games we could face and then they go 'oh, by the way, you're playing Everton on Thursday night'.

"We wanted to play Villa last Saturday or Sunday, they wanted to play us and got blankly refused. Don't know why. We don't have another game after Sunday until next Monday against Wolves. Why? We haven't been treated fairly at all."

After Thursday's defeat at the King Power Stadium, Allardyce targeted five wins from Albion's final six games to stay in the Premier League.

Villa sit in mid-table with their European hopes fading and remain without injured skipper Jack Grealish but Allardyce, missing the injured Branislav Ivanovic, expects a typical derby.

"It's Aston Villa against West Brom. It's a head-to-head West Midlands derby, everyone will be up for it," he said.

"We have to win it but we won't win it unless we defend correctly. It won't be anything but a ferocious football match.

"It's about my players getting back to the level of performance of the last 10 matches. That came about by us having one of the best defensive records in the league.

"We have to produce the same football we produced against Southampton and Chelsea. It was always going to be difficult to continue winning."

ID:444472: cacheID:444472:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3796:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane limps off injured against Everton on April 16, 2021
Read Next:
PL Team of the Week - Kane, Greenwood, Foden
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd37247652282477
2Leeds UnitedLeeds362210472234976
3Burnley372015250113975
4Sunderland371912655342169
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom371317747331456
6Coventry CityCoventry37168135248456
7Bristol City37131594740754
8Middlesbrough37158145748953
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn36157144137452
10Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds37149145358-551
11Norwich CityNorwich371213125952749
12Watford36147154650-449
13Millwall361212123637-148
14Queens Park RangersQPR371111154248-644
15Preston North EndPreston37917113743-644
16Swansea CitySwansea36128163846-844
17Portsmouth36119164457-1342
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd36912153753-1639
19Hull City36910173645-937
20Stoke CityStoke36812163650-1436
21Cardiff CityCardiff37812174061-2136
22Derby CountyDerby3798203749-1235
23Luton TownLuton3797213460-2634
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth36612183673-3730


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!