-Credit: (Image: John Walton/PA Wire.)
Sunday’s Premier League schedule sees four games take place – with two kick-off times at the rather unusual time of 7pm.
The early game in the English top flight sees Brighton host Crystal Palace at 2pm. Arguably the main event of the day take takes place at 4.30pm, with Manchester City hosting Manchester United at the Etihad.
On a normal weekend of Premier League action, that would be it but today sees Chelsea locking horns with Brentford and Southampton playing host to Tottenham – both at 7pm.
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So why are the games kicking off so late and put in a slot so unfriendly for fans’ travel arrangements?
Both games were shifted to Sunday because of Chelsea’s and Tottenham’s European commitments in midweek. Premier League chiefs allowed the Blues to move their game to 7pm because of their 3,700-mile journey home from Almaty in the south of Kazakhstan on Thursday after they had beaten Astana in the Europa Conference League. The Blues versus the Bees has not been picked for TV.
Spurs were due to face the Saints in front of the TNT Sports cameras on Saturday at 12.30pm but due to the north London club’s match against Rangers on Thursday night in the Europa League, that could not be possible.
That left TNT Sports with the options of a 12pm or 7pm Sunday slot, as they were not allowed to clash with Sky Sports’ coverage of their picks.
“The Sunday evening kick-off slot is really unpopular with match-goers as public transport options are limited and it’s no good for families with young kids,” an FSA spokesperson said. “When the general slot was announced the Premier League told us it was a ‘contingency’ – but it seems to be getting used an awful lot for such a provision.
“A big part of the problem is allowing broadcasters to choose ‘conditional’ picks which are then moved when a team progresses in Europe. The Premier League puts broadcasters first by allowing them to select such games knowing full well conditional picks are very likely to be rescheduled again.”