Antonio Conte fires back at Mikel Arteta over Premier League fixture complaints

Daniel Brown

‘Tottenham – Arsenal okay? If we speak about unfair. I stop.’

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has hit out at at Mikel Arteta over his complaints about Arsenal’s Premier League schedule.

Gunners manager Arteta is less than pleased with Arsenal’s current fixture congestion, with the London outfit having played against Liverpool on Wednesday night and will return to action on Saturday lunchtime away at Aston Villa.

Speaking after the 2-0 defeat to the Reds in midweek, the Spaniard said: “Thank you so much to the Premier League for doing that.

“And they’ve done it again when we have to play Chelsea and Manchester United. So if they want to give them any advantage, I say to them today: ‘Thank you so much for doing that’.”

🗣 "We are the only team that has been scheduled like that, I'm not talking about Europe."

Mikel Arteta stands by his comments criticising the Premier League fixture schedule pic.twitter.com/sAzcrYdZ46

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 18, 2022

When Arteta was asked if he stands by his comments in his pre-match press conference, he replied: “I do because I’m talking about the Premier League. I heard some comments about mixing up being away in Europe and how it’s nothing new.

“It’s nothing new to me, but I’m not complaining about Europe, I’m complaining about the Premier League and how you schedule games in the Premier League. When you are in Europe it’s a different story. What I’m comparing is the Premier League and it’s very difficult.”

However, Spurs manager Conte has referenced January’s postponed game between the two clubs, which was called off due to covid cases at Arsenal, when asked about the Gunners’ current situation.

"We postponed our game. Tottenham, Arsenal if you remember. I don't forget this and I think that it's not right to talk about fair unfair ."

Antonio Conte responds to comments made by Mikel Artetas about Arsenals busy fixture schedule pic.twitter.com/1aOJo8TGQs

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 18, 2022

When Arteta’s comments were put to the Italian, he replied: “Yeah but I only want Arteta to remember the game postponed. Tottenham – Arsenal okay? If we speak about unfair. I stop.”

When pressed further, he added: “But In general, I think my answer is enough. Okay, yeah, it’s enough. If someone wants to speak about fair or unfair. We postponed the game, Tottenham-Arsenal, if you remember. I don’t. I don’t forget this, and I think that it’s not right to speak about fair or unfair.”

Arsenal were heavily criticised for the successful request to postpone the north London derby against Tottenham in January, with the Gunners thought to have just one covid case in their squad at the time.

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