A furious David De Gea has questioned why Manchester United were made to play four days before facing Arsenal, while the Gunners had the midweek off.
The Red Devils make the trip to the Emirates on Sunday for a mouth-watering clash which could have huge ramifications on both the Premier League title race and battle for top-four. But De Gea and co will now be without one of their most important players for the match, midfield general Casemiro.
Thanks to him picking up a fifth yellow card of the season in the latter stages of United's frustrating 1-1 draw away with Crystal Palace on Sunday, the 30-year-old Brazilian will serve a one-game suspension. With manager Erik ten Hag now forced to think of a Plan B, team-mate De Gea has vented his fury towards Premier League chiefs' decision to schedule their visit to Palace on the eve of such a crucial fixture.
"Big blow to lose Casemiro for Sunday," the Spanish goalkeeper, who prevented his team from going behind in the first half with an outstanding save, told Sky Sports. "I don't understand why Arsenal don't play as we have to play in the same week and they don't. Now we are missing one of our best players. I don't understand. Now we miss him for a big game and it is a big loss for us."
The answer to De Gea's quandary may well be due to the Red Devils only finishing second in their Europa League group earlier this season. Unlike Arsenal, who topped their group, United will travel Barcelona on February 16 for the first leg of their play-off.
Less than 24 hours prior before, Mikel Arteta 's men face Manchester City in another seismic Premier League clash for their game in hand. Both that fixture and the Red Devils' trip Palace were rescheduled due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September, although United were only given 10-days notice from Premier League chiefs when the new date was announced earlier this month.
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That being said, De Gea wouldn't be nearly as frustrated had United held on to their 1-0 lead at Selhurst Park through Bruno Fernandes ' opening goal. Ten Hag's side produced a poor display in the second half, with one particularly sequence seeing with eight minutes of time remaining allowing Palace to break away.
Spotting the danger, Casemiro scythed down Wilfried Zaha but was immediately booked by referee Rob Jones, who earlier in the half had waved away strong appeals from the Red Devils for a penalty. After VAR deciding not to intervene, United didn't help themselves and a late foul from Luke Shaw allowed Michael Olise to score a stunning free-kick and equalise in the 91st minute.
With Arsenal up next, a disappointed but forward-thinking Ten Hag pointed out that his team had beaten the Gunners earlier in the season without Casemiro in the starting line-up. "Last time we beat Arsenal without Casemiro," the Dutch tactician affirmed. "Casemiro is obviously a really important player for us and he is one of the reasons that we are in the position that we are now."
