Arsenal make the trip to face Chelsea on Sunday, November 6 at 12pm.
Two Premier League games this season have raised eyebrows among fans as their teams have to play until their usual weekend schedule.
over here, The athletics The timing of Sunday’s London derby will explain why.
What is the traditional Premier League kick off time?
Regular viewers of English football can probably recite the weekly Premier League schedule by heart. The weekend kicks off at 12.30pm on Saturday with BT Sport having the rights to that slot. That is, unless he’s selected for a Friday Night Football game, which kicks off in front of the Sky Sports cameras at 8pm.
Due to English football’s suspension rules, Saturday’s 3pm games cannot be broadcast in England. While that lights out at 5:15 p.m., the Saturday Night Football game typically starts a quarter of an hour later.
Then on Sunday, Sky Sports will have two Super Sunday games starting at 2pm and 4.30pm. More games will be played in the midweek weekend which will see the European semi-finals this season include Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham. Sometimes there is also a Monday night football game which always starts at 8pm.
What is the reason for different television start times?
In this particular case, the match had to be moved to a Sunday kick-off due to Arsenal’s Europa League commitments. The game is being shown live on BT Sport but the game cannot be played at their usual Saturday 12.30pm slot as the Gunners are away on Thursday night.
24 hours after Chelsea host Dinamo Zagreb, FC Zurich face Arsenal in London at the Emirates. Mikel Arteta’s side have qualified for the Europa League knockout stages but will be looking to avoid one of the bottom sides of the Champions League. Matching PSV’s results will ensure them a top spot.
The turnaround between a Thursday night clash and a possible Saturday lunchtime game is so short that it would be unreasonable to expect the Premier League leaders to play on those days. Instead, they get an extra day to recover and the game is played and revealed on Sunday.
Have initial moments been criticized before?
Yes, many managers of clubs competing in the Premier League and Europe have expressed their frustration at certain starting times. Arteta was one of the critics of last season’s 12.30pm Saturday kick-off.
Arsenal had to prepare themselves for the weekend trip to Aston Villa after losing to Liverpool on Wednesday night in March. They won the match 1-0 to cement their place in the top four at the time, but the Spaniard was not happy before the game.
And he said:“Thank you to the Premier League for doing that and they did it again when we played against Chelsea and Manchester United, so if it’s going to give them any advantage, I’ll say thank you to them today for doing that.”
Arteta’s brief switch to Villa and the fixtures mean they face Chelsea and United in a matter of days.
“Many thanks to the Premier League… It’s not fair.”
— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) March 16, 2022
Jurgen Klopp has been critical of that particular playing field. Last season’s final Liverpool quadruple saw his side set for Wednesday night’s Champions League semi-final visit to Villarreal with a lunchtime trip to Newcastle on Saturday.
Klopp on Sat 12.30 at Newcastle: “If you want to trouble us, send us to 12.30 at Newcastle. The league and the broadcaster will try to help us. Nobody from BT has contacted me yet. Do you think it’s right to move him?”
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) April 14, 2022
Has the 12pm Sunday slot been used before?
yes. Another time it was used this season was another Arsenal game; They beat Brentford 3-0 away in mid-September.
Apart from that, it has been one of the most unusual Premier League debuts. The only other time it was used with any frequency was during the Covid-affected 2020-21 season when each game was given an individual TV slot.
Will it be reused?
With no European football until February, there are no plans for any other televised matches to be played in the Sunday midday slot. The fixtures until the end of the festival are all confirmed and fans will be pleased to hear that none of them will be played at 12pm on Sunday.
But it can be used again after the Champions League, Europa League and Europa League play-offs begin.
(Photo: Getty Images)
