The Premier League has scheduled matches featuring Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur for 7pm GMT (2pm ET) this Sunday after both clubs played in Europe on Thursday night.
Tottenham travelled from London to Glasgow to play Rangers in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night. They drew 1-1, leaving them ninth in the table.
Chelsea have cruised to the top of the table in the UEFA Conference League while fielding heavily rotated teams. Their latest win came on Thursday when they travelled 3,500 miles to Kazakhstan to face Astana, a match which ended 3-1.
The next Premier League fixtures for both teams will now take place on Sunday at 7pm GMT, meaning the schedule for December 15 now looks like this:
Brighton vs Crystal Palace (2pm GMT, 9am ET)
Manchester City vs Manchester United (4.30pm GMT, 11.30am ET)
Chelsea vs Brentford (7pm GMT, 2pm ET)
Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur (7pm GMT, 2pm ET)
Why 7pm?
Neither match could be played on the Saturday as both Chelsea and Tottenham were involved in matches on the Thursday night.
Chelsea requested a later kick-off on the Sunday as it is an eight-hour flight back to London from Kazakhstan.
The Premier League then offered Spurs a later kick-off, despite their trip to Glasgow being just 340 miles away.
The 7pm slot is unusual but is a league contingency when other kick-off times are unavailable or unviable.
Neither fixture could be moved to midweek next week as Chelsea play in Europe again, against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday, while Chelsea’s opponents on Sunday, Brentford, play against Newcastle in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday. Tottenham play Manchester United in the League Cup on Thursday, while Southampton play Liverpool in the same competition on Wednesday.
GO DEEPER
Your club's best and worst kick-off times - and which slot delivers most goals?
Have Sunday games been played this late before?
There have been 35 Premier League games kicking off at 7pm or later on a Sunday (29 of them in 2020-21, a season of many adjustments due to the impact of Covid-19). The first was Everton v Liverpool in June 2020. The most recent was West Ham v Manchester United in May 2023.
Usually, Sunday games occur at 2pm and 4.30pm as part of Sky Sports’ ‘Super Sundays’ coverage.
Will they be on TV?
Tottenham vs Southampton will be on TNT Sports, which is another reason it ended up in the 7pm slot on Sunday — Sky will be showing the 2pm and 4.30pm matches, so the Spurs match could not clash.
Chelsea’s match against Brentford won’t be on television.
Premier League fixtures are amended throughout the season to accommodate domestic and European cup competitions, as well as broadcasters. The expanded European competitions, taking up extra weeks in the calendar, have meant further pressure on the Premier League schedule.
What’s the impact on fans?
Sunday 7pm kick-offs are controversial.
Southampton are to host Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s on Sunday, which means any Spurs fans who make the trip will face a late journey, but the United Kingdom’s public transport organisations run reduced services on Sundays. This is even more of a problem when many will have work on Monday morning.
“Fans have already gotten used to so many random kick-off times, on random days, that this is just another one to add to the list, Ben Stansfield, founder of Southampton fan media Total Saints Podcast, tells The Athletic. “Fan convenience is clearly irrelevant.”
The backlash against a 5.30pm kick-off for the 2023 Community Shield between Manchester City and Arsenal led to it being rescheduled for 4pm.
The fact that fans may be unable to travel can also lead to reduced ticket sales, and a worse atmosphere in the stadium.
GO DEEPER
English football's 3pm kick-off is dying - does anyone care?
(Top photo: Stamford Bridge during Chelsea v Newcastle last season; Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images)