Rangnick surprised by run-in fixture change
Ralf Rangnick admits the late shake-up to Manchester United's April and May schedule was not something he was expecting, after learning the new date for our crucial Premier League game against Chelsea.
But Thomas Tuchel's team have now booked another engagement that weekend, a return to Wembley on Saturday 14 May for the Emirates FA Cup final against our league opponents this evening, Liverpool. The two clubs also faced each other in this season's Carabao Cup final, with the Merseysiders prevailing on penalties.
The Premier League have therefore moved Chelsea's meeting with United to Thursday next week, 28 April, for live coverage on Sky Sports. Kick-off at the Theatre of Dreams will be at 19:45 BST.
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“The fact that the Chelsea game was changed from the original fixture is something I didn’t think could happen,” said Rangnick, in our exclusive interview to discuss tonight's clash with Liverpool.
“Normally in Germany, the last two games of the season have to be played on the very same day and with the same kick-off time. Obviously it’s different here.
“For us it’s not good because we have a number of injured players so it would have been better for the Chelsea game to be played two weeks later when it was originally planned. But anyway we have to deal with it and hopefully by then we have two or three of those injured players available again.”
Whether the Reds are still able to finish fourth by then will depend on the results of the preceding five games, of course, with Chelsea at home now slotting into the schedule directly after this evening's encounter at Anfield and our away clash with Arsenal this coming Saturday, 23 April.
“We have to play at our very best possible level with those three games and we need to try to win as many of them as possible,” our interim manager added.
“We have to take it game by game. We know the importance of the Liverpool game, not only for us to stay in the race for [position] number four, but also for the fans, knowing that the team lost the first fixture this season 5-0 at Old Trafford. We are fully aware about the importance of this game.”
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Tuesday 19 April, 20:00 BST: Liverpool away
Saturday 23 April, 12:30 BST: Arsenal away
Thursday 28 April, 19:45 BST: Chelsea home
Monday 2 May, 20:00 BST: Brentford home
Saturday 7 May, 17:30 BST: Brighton away
Sunday 22 May, 16:00 BST: Crystal Palace away