Why is there only one game in the Premier League on Sunday?
Liverpool’s home fixture against Arsenal will be the only Premier League match played on the afternoon of Sunday, November 1.
Newcastle United and Everton will meet at St James’ Park in an 8:00pm kick-off but the rest of a full weekend slate of Premier League fixtures will be played on the same day, creating a rare eight-match Saturday split between four different kick-off times.
Half of the Premier League will play in the traditional 3:00pm Saturday time slot. There were only four Saturday matches in total last weekend and the same will be true on Saturday, November 7.
Why is Liverpool vs Arsenal the only Premier League match on Sunday?
The intriguing prospect of Liverpool vs Arsenal has Sunday all to itself this week and will be played in the 4:30pm time slot as the weekend’s top Sky Sports television broadcast selection.
There will not be a 2:00pm kick-off because Aston Villa vs Fulham was the Sky Sports pick for the earlier Sunday slot and the lack of Thursday night Europa League and Conference League fixtures this week means no other matches were moved by necessity.
Villa and Fulham have had their game at Villa Park moved to Saturday because Villa play in the league phase of the Champions League against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Premier League clubs are required to have two clear days between matches, meaning that Thursday night fixtures in Europe rule out games on the following Saturday. Those games are typically pushed back to Sunday afternoon.
Teams playing away in the Champions League on Wednesday nights are also exempted from the 12:30pm Saturday slot in the Premier League, during which Villa played against Manchester City after their home game against Viking last week.
Premier League fixtures are also affected by Champions League matches in the following week. Villa playing at the Camp Nou on Tuesday means they can’t play on Sunday.
Their late kick-off against Fulham is a matter of live broadcast slots. Sky Sports will still show the match, which therefore can’t be played at 3:00pm or in the 12:30pm slot that belongs to TNT Sport.
Chelsea vs Manchester United will play in that game this Saturday.
The 5:30pm Sky Sports slot is also out because Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace will be shown live at that time, leaving only the lesser-deployed 8:00pm kick-off time available for Villa’s visit from the Cottagers.
Monday’s game on Tyneside will also be live on Sky Sports under the Monday Night Football banner.
