The Sunday schedule in the Premier League this week will be unusually short. On November 1, only one match is scheduled - between Liverpool and Arsenal at 18:30. Unlike the usual schedule, in which fans can watch several matches in different time slots, this time there will be no early match at 16:00.
Initially, Aston Villa - Fulham was supposed to be played in this time zone. The match at “Villa Park“ was selected for television broadcast by “Sky Sports”, but was subsequently moved to Saturday, October 31, with a kick-off time of 21:00. The change was announced on September 1, after UEFA finalized the Champions League main stage schedule.
The reason is Aston Villa's commitment to the European tournament. Unai Emery's team is due to visit Barcelona on Tuesday, November 3, at 8:00 p.m. If the Birmingham team had played on Sunday, it would have violated the Premier League's rule for a minimum recovery period between two matches.
According to the regulation, clubs must have at least two full days between their matches. Therefore, a team playing in the Champions League on Tuesday cannot be involved in the championship the previous Sunday. Similarly, teams playing in the Europa League or Conference League on Thursday cannot have a Premier League match on Saturday.