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Roberto Mancini blasts league schedule

Roberto Mancini blasts his team's schedule ahead of tonight's Carling Cup quarter-final against Arsenal.

Roberto Mancini has voiced his displeasure at having to face Arsenal in the Carling Cup tonight just 48 hours after Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.

Mancini also said that he believes the tough schedule of top stars may be the reason for England's lack of success on the international stage.

"On Monday we go to London and we'll change all the team because this is an incredible situation," the City boss said. "Arsenal played on Saturday, we play Sunday evening. On Monday we travel to London and play Tuesday night. Incredible. This is the reason why the national team arrive for European Championship finals and World Cups and they are dying.

"The players don't have time to recover. To play again in two days like this, so soon after the Champions League is incredible.

"I don't know who to blame. The Premier League should have said something about this. It's important to play but it's also important to recover. You need three days between one game and another."

Mancini also said that he was considering fielding a young team to make a statement.

"It's a quarter-final. We should play with 11 young players. Maybe 14 or 15 years old," Mancini said.

"To make a statement? Yes, because it's not correct. Not so much for us but for the players. It's not right. We'll have the same at the start of January when we play Sunderland then Liverpool in two days.

"Liverpool play three days before us. Is this correct? I don't think so."

Along with youngsters such as Abdul Razak and Denis Suarez, Owen Hargreaves could feature in tonight's quarter-final.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool18143145172845
2Arsenal19116238172139
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest1911442619737
4Chelsea19105438231535
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle1995532211132
6Manchester CityMan City199463226631
7Bournemouth198652923630
8Fulham197842825329
9Aston Villa198562831-329
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton196942928127
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1973941281324
12Brentford197393335-224
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham196582335-1223
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd196492126-522
15Crystal Palace194872027-720
16Everton183871524-917
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1944113142-1116
18Ipswich TownIpswich1936101833-1515
19Leicester CityLeicester1935112242-2014
20Southampton1913151239-276


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