Nottingham Forest have every right to be furious with Premier League decision, action must be taken

Nottingham Forest have been handed a ridiculous piece of match scheduling by the Premier League after qualifying for the Europa League semi-final.

Vitor Pereira’s side beat FC Porto 1-0 on Thursday courtesy of Morgan Gibbs-White’s goal, setting up a semi-final clash with Aston Villa.

The first leg is to take place at the end of the month, before the second leg goes ahead in the following week and at the start of May.

The problem is that the Premier League has, bizarrely, decided to schedule May’s game against Chelsea for the Monday.

Nottingham Forest’s form has not seen them clear of the relegation zone yet, but such tightly-packed fixtures may force them into a choice.

Premier League must fix Nottingham Forest error

Former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider this month that Nottingham Forest will cover their financial losses if they can win the Europa League this season.

Victory in the competition would grant access to the Champions League and a significant bump in revenue with it.

But Premier League safety is undoubtedly even more important, and Nottingham Forest have been handed a tricky situation heading into the semi-final.

The first leg will take place on Thursday, April 30, at the City Ground, with the home side away at Sunderland on the Friday before, while Villa play on the Saturday.

But while the Villans play in Birmingham on Sunday before the Villa Park clash on Thursday, May 7, Nottingham Forest’s trip to Chelsea has been scheduled for the Monday.

According to Dale Johnson, it will be the first time this season that the Premier League has handed a Monday kick-off to any team in the week they play in European competition.

Worst of all, the Premier League appear not to have made an error, instead, handing Nottingham Forest a significant disadvantage for no reason at all.

Premier League faces questions over scheduling

In such cases as this one, the Premier League surely has to take a view on the decision and alter the schedule.

How Nottingham Forest will view it, at least, is that they have been directly slighted by decision-makers, who have handed them a clear disadvantage.

With any luck, wins against Burnley and Sunderland in the next week may well allow Pereira to fully rotate his squad for the game against Chelsea.

But for the Premier League’s optics, action must surely be taken to ensure balance is maintained.

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