Both Man City and Liverpool are showing signs of overload in the final stages of the season, and the packed schedule is believed to be the main reason.

Recently, Opta has provided statistics on the average time gap between two matches for clubs in the English Premier League. According to the figures, Liverpool and Man City are respectively the two clubs with the least time gap between matches.

Specifically, Liverpool’s figure is 116 hours 18 minutes, which means they play a match every 4.8 days. Meanwhile, Man City’s statistic is 121 hours 26 minutes, not significantly different from The Reds.

Manchester City and Liverpool are the two clubs that play the most matches in England.

The third-placed club in this list is Aston Villa, while another title contender, Arsenal, has a much more manageable fixture density, sitting at sixth. The fact that Liverpool and Man City have to play many matches with such intensity is largely due to their participation in multiple competitions and deep runs in cup competitions.

However, the somewhat irrational scheduling by the FA is also one of the reasons why these two clubs face many disadvantages. Both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have often criticized the Premier League’s fixture list.

With such a dense schedule of matches every five days, it’s not difficult to understand why both Liverpool and Man City are having to endure a lot of injuries as well as a decline in form from key players.