EPL

Premier League moves Arsenal, Palace games to ease fixture congestion

The Premier League has agreed to move games involving Arsenal and Crystal Palace in December to ease fixture congestion.

Arsenal’s trip to Everton and Palace’s game at Leeds, both originally scheduled for 14:00 GMT on Sunday, 21 December, will now be played at 20:00 on Saturday, 20 December.

The move means the two sides will have an extra day to prepare for their EFL Cup quarter-final on 23 December.

The cup game was moved by the EFL from its original date of 16 December because that would have meant Palace, who are also competing in the Conference League in Europe, playing three times in five days.

They will still have to play two games in the space of three days, with their Conference League tie against Finnish side KuPS scheduled for Thursday, 18 December.

The Selhurst Park club had their request to play the European tie a day earlier rejected by UEFA. It is understood that European football’s governing body turned down the request because moving it would jeopardise the integrity of the competition.

Arsenal say the possibility of playing the EFL Cup tie on Christmas Eve was rejected because of the impact it would have on fans and club staff.

The Gunners added they would provide additional coaches at a subsidised price of £10 for the trip to Merseyside on 20 December.

The decision to move forward with the two Premier League matches has been made after requests from both clubs.

It is understood that the desire for both teams to have the same recovery time before the EFL Cup tie was a factor, though television scheduling is also believed to have been a consideration.

There is an acknowledgement that the 20:00 kick-off does provide travelling supporters with logistical difficulties.

But the Premier League says the decision has been taken with the players’ well-being at the forefront of its mind.

It said: “Player welfare is a priority for the Premier League, and we have therefore granted requests from Arsenal and Crystal Palace to move their respective fixtures.

“This comes after the scheduling of matches from other competitions around Premier League fixtures without adequate player recovery time.

“This is also further evidence of the impact the expanded UEFA competitions have on the domestic fixture calendar.”

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