Manchester City handed major domestic treble blow as Premier League ignore fixture swap plea | OneFootball

The Premier League have not responded to Manchester City’s request to swap their games against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth in May, as per a new report.

City’s hopes of a dream domestic treble hinge on their last six games of the campaign, including the final five fixtures of the Premier League season and the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

The Blues have won their last six on the bounce in all competitions to put themselves in the driving seat to win a seventh league title under Pep Guardiola, who has turned the ship around after a rocky start to 2026 at the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal are currently leading the Premier League table after narrowly winning over Newcastle but Manchester City retain a game in hand over the Gunners ahead of this weekend’s trip to face Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Report: Premier League ignore fixture swap request

Manchester City had requested the Premier League to consider swapping their upcoming league games against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth to alleviate fixture congestion and allow them an added day of rest in their final weeks of the season.

The Blues face Crystal Palace (H) on Wednesday May 13 and travel to Bournemouth (A) on Tuesday May 19 as they look to go perfect between now and the end of the Premier League campaign.

However, as reported by Mirror Sport’s John Cross, the Premier League have ignored Manchester City’s request to interchange the above fixtures, meaning Guardiola’s side will play four times in the last 12 days of the season.

Executives at the Etihad Stadium must have entered the plea knowing it was a long shot to begin with, having dealt with gruelling fixture calendars over the course of Guardiola’s illustrious spell managing at the club.

What does this mean for Man City and Guardiola?

City have a fairly deep squad, certainly helped by their January signings of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi – as well as the recent returns of Nathan Ake and John Stones from injuries to strengthen their backline.

Rodri, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol remain unfit but it is worth mentioning that Guardiola has found faith in a core group of starters – nearly of whom have started every game in the last month – who will all almost certainly play most of the remaining minutes of this term.

Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Rico Lewis have hardly kicked a ball in 2026, with James Trafford also second-choice but reaping the rewards of Manchester City’s successful runs in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

However, Guardiola will be managing workload and fatigue in the camp by making changes as and when he needs to, having admitted that his players were shattered after their 2-1 win over Arsenal – only to name a nearly unchanged lineup a few days later against Burnley at Turf Moor.