Aston Villa's Champions League Duty Leaves Sunday Without Early Premier League Kick-off
The Premier League has no 14:00 GMT match this Sunday because Aston Villa's game with Fulham was moved to Saturday evening ahead of their Champions League trip to Barcelona.
This Premier League weekend breaks from the usual pattern: there is no 14:00 GMT kick-off on Sunday, a slot that regularly features at least one top-flight match and has sometimes held more than one this season. Instead, the weekend's only Sunday fixture is Liverpool against Arsenal at 16:30 GMT.
The change stems from Aston Villa's Champions League commitments. Villa's home meeting with Fulham had been designated as the Sunday 14:00 match, but because Unai Emery's side play at Barcelona two days later, on Tuesday, the Fulham game has been brought forward to 20:00 on Saturday. Sky Sports, which was due to show the fixture in its original slot, will also broadcast the rearranged match.
The early Sunday slot has been used more heavily at times this season as a knock-on effect of four Premier League clubs playing in the Europa League and Conference League on Thursday evenings, with teams generally wanting at least two clear days between matches. Last weekend four games were played early on Sunday and only two took place in the traditional Saturday 15:00 slot.
This weekend's schedule is weighted towards Saturday, with five matches at 15:00 plus kick-offs at 12:30, 17:30 and 20:00. Liverpool against Arsenal follows on Sunday at 16:30, and Newcastle United against Everton closes the round on Monday at 20:00. All times are GMT.
The article, from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team, explains the scheduling rather than offering supporter reaction, so no fan views are cited. The confirmed facts are the revised kick-off times and the reason given for moving Villa against Fulham.
Image: Getty Images / BBC Sport
