On Tuesday, Man United will be in action, hosting Burnley in the Premier League. This is one of several games being played on Boxing Day, but Jose Mourinho believes his team has been handed the short end of the stick in the festive schedule.
The Old Trafford side is currently in a run of four games over the 10 days which began on the 23rd – against Leicester – and will end on the 1st of January against Everton. In that space, the Red Devils will have only six rest days.
The Citizens will play as many games as United, but with an extra rest day due to their clash with Newcastle being scheduled on Wednesday. Elsewhere, Arsenal, who played on Friday night instead of Saturday, will not return to action until Thursday.
This schedule has left the Special One upset, as he let out his frustrations in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s Old Trafford tie. "I'm not just saying about the privileged ones with six days to recover and to enjoy and to prepare for the next one," Mourinho said, as per the Daily Mail.
"But also the ones with a little bit more than us, for example the ones that play after (Boxing Day). That extra day means a lot.
"It means probably they are not working today, they can be back to work tomorrow to prepare for the next day. The problem that I see here is the difference between some teams.
"What I call December injuries in English football, they are arriving. It depends on many factors but we open the door for what I call December injuries."
In their last game, Man United let the title race slip further from reach, as they drew 2-2 at Leicester. Mourinho’s side had several opportunities to kill the game, but wastefulness in front of goal and a stoppage-time equalizer robbed the Red Devils of three points.
A win against Burnley would temporarily see City’s lead get cut down to 10 points. Mourinho will be hoping that the Guardiola’s side slips up against Newcastle the following day.
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