The Premier League has a schedule problem

2025-12-14 14:45 © AFP

Beloved by all and most observed football league in Lithuania, the English "Premier" League has a scheduling problem, and this is evident to the naked eye.

This weekend was the fourth in the last six "Premier" League weekends where the round starts with a series of matches at 5 PM.

So the question arises: where have the 2:30 PM matches gone? These were the matches that many grew up on, spent their teenage years waiting for, or simply looked forward to as they could relax after a tough work week, but now there is a clear absence of them.

Part of the situation can be understood, as this year nine "Premier" League clubs are playing in Europe, making it difficult to give Champions League clubs that time to play unless you are "Liverpool," as Jurgen Klopp has constantly complained. However, there have been scenarios where some English clubs played 2:30 PM matches the same week as the Champions League.

On the other hand, this is incomprehensible. Last year, there were two such weekends up to this moment. Now there are twice as many. 2:30 PM or in earlier times 2:45 PM is pure "Premier" League classic.

This season at such times we witnessed the Merseyside derby, an unexpected victory for "Brentford" against "Man Utd," "Aston Villa's" dramatic win against "Arsenal," as well as a fierce battle between "Tottenham" and "Man Utd" with fanfares at the end of the match. So, those matches are worth attention and often simply special.

We can also note that the Champions League and other European football have forced English clubs to move many matches to the Sunday 4 PM slot. This is understandable, but why is the legendary "Tyneside" derby between "Sunderland" and "Newcastle" mixed in with other matches at 4 PM this Sunday, returning to the "Premier" League?

At that time, there will also be "West Ham" and "Aston Villa," "Crystal Palace" battling "Man City," and "Tottenham" visiting "Forest." At least two neutral viewers would like to watch these matches as well, but they will likely fade away in front of the return of the legendary derby. Not to mention the separate teams’ fans who will probably skip the SUFC and NUFC battle. It will be heated there, but the schedule forces a choice.

Meanwhile, the "Super Sunday" adornment will be the match between "Brentford" and "Leeds." The English police, for understandable reasons, want the "Sunderland" and "Newcastle" derby to happen as early as possible. Fans tend to consume more alcohol there, so the earlier, the fewer problems, but why haven’t "Crystal Palace" and "Manchester City" been slotted for the 6:30 PM time?

Last weekend and the previous weekend also saw matches like "Burnley" – "Fulham," "Fulham" – "Crystal Palace," and "Brighton" – "West Ham" scheduled for exclusive times. Fans of these teams deserve to see everything on the best television in England, but is that perhaps too much?

During the upcoming "Boxing Day," we will see only one match, which will be at the latest time – 10 PM. This decision is linked to agreements between television and the "Premier" League. Apparently, the coincidences of the last weekends are also according to the television pipe. In short, there is a lack of logic, and logic has always been on the side of this league. It’s a pity that now decisions are hard to understand.