The Premier League has approved Arsenal and Crystal Palace’s requests to move their fixtures the weekend before their Carabao Cup quarter-final meeting.
Originally set for Sunday, 21 December, Arsenal’s trip to Everton and Palace’s visit to Leeds United will now both be played at 8pm on Saturday, 20 December.
Palace, who face KuPS in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, 18 December, opted to shorten their rest period before the Leeds match to avoid facing Arsenal just two days later.
In a statement, the Premier League said:
“Player welfare is a priority… This change follows fixture congestion caused by scheduling in other competitions and the expansion of UEFA tournaments.”
The league also thanked Leeds and Everton for their cooperation. Both rescheduled games will still be shown live on Sky Sports.
The Carabao Cup tie at the Emirates Stadium will now take place on Tuesday, 23 December.
