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All of the weekend’s Premier League games were postponed as a mark or respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
European fixtures went ahead as planned that night, with Manchester United in action against Real Sociedad in the Europa League and West Ham at home to FCSB in the Europa Conference League.
But following a meeting of Premier League shareholders on Friday, it was decided that there would be no football at the weekend – even though other sports have continued as normal over the past few days.
And with the Queen’s funeral to take place on September 19, there could yet be more postponements next weekend.
Which Premier League matches have been postponed?
All of the fixtures in the Premier League’s seventh round of matches have been postponed and will need to be played at a later date.
Fulham vs Chelsea, Bournemouth vs Brighton, Leicester vs Aston Villa, Liverpool vs Wolves, Southampton vs Brentford and Manchester City vs Tottenham were all due to take place on Saturday.
On Sunday, Arsenal were scheduled to host Everton, with West Ham at home to Newcastle and Manchester United in action away to Crystal Palace. Leeds and Nottingham Forest were set to meet at Elland Road in Monday’s match.
Could there be more postponements next weekend?
Yes. It is possible that the entire eighth round of Premier League matches is postponed again as a mark of respect, with Queen Elizabeth’s funeral to take place on Monday in London.
However, that would create considerable congestion in the calendar later on this season and talks are ongoing to establish the best course of action for next weekend’s games.
It is understood that the three fixtures in the capital – Brentford vs Arsenal, Chelsea vs Liverpool and Tottenham vs Leicester – are most under threat next weekend due to the sheer amount of policing needed ahead of the funeral on Monday and with the Queen’s coffin due to be lying in state at Westminster Hall in central London from Thursday.
One idea under consideration is to reverse those fixtures, with the games to be played at the home of the away sides instead, but this is thought to be unpopular due to the logistical and planning issues it would create with only a week until the matches would take place. It would also be unhelpful in the case of Brentford vs Arsenal, with both of those teams based in the capital.
Aston Villa vs Southampton and Nottingham Forest vs Fulham are currently due to be played on Friday, with Wolves vs Manchester City, Brighton vs Crystal Palace, Newcastle vs Bournemouth and Tottenham vs Leicester all scheduled for Saturday. Arsenal vs Brentford, Chelsea vs Liverpool, Everton vs West Ham and Manchester United vs Leeds are all pencilled in for Sunday.
Brighton’s game against rivals Palace had previously been postponed due to a rail strike, although that action has since been cancelled and it is unclear whether it will be played as normal if matches do go ahead this weekend.
Will this week’s European fixtures go ahead?
Yes. Despite initial speculation that the European games could also be postponed following the Queen’s passing, it has since been confirmed that this week’s Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League fixtures will go ahead as planned this week.
On Tuesday, Tottenham are in action away to Sporting CP in the Champions League, with Liverpool at home to Ajax on the same night.
Also in the Champions League, Chelsea vs RB Salzburg, Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund, Rangers vs Napoli and Shakhtar Donetsk vs Celtic will all take place as scheduled on Wednesday.
And on Thursday in the Europa League and Conference League, Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven, RFS vs Hearts, Sheriff vs Manchester United and Silkeborg vs West Ham will all be played as normal.
So when could the postponed fixtures be played?
It’s complicated. With the World Cup 2022 taking place later in November and the Carabao Cup fourth round and three blocks of Premier League matches to fit in over the Christmas period, there is no availability left this year.
With two domestic cup competitions, plus Premier League and European matchdays to factor in, there are only three empty midweek slots (starting on April 4, May 2 and May 23) left between January and the end of the season.
Those dates would seem the most obvious for rearranging this week’s postponed games, but that could prove problematic if further games are called off at a later date due to positive Covid-19 tests or extreme weather conditions.
Postponement of next weekend’s fixtures would create further problems in that respect, although the vacant slots could still accommodate the games.
What other options are there?
Further opportunities will come as teams are knocked out of the two cups, and eliminated from Europe, although some clubs will be expected to go deep in all of those competitions.
One further complication is that rescheduled matches planned for television will not be able to clash with cup or European games pencilled in for a live broadcast.
Additionally, UEFA’s Memorandum of Understanding states that domestic fixtures cannot clash with Champions League games. So if games are scheduled on Champions League nights, these will need to be played in different time slots.
If any of the Premier League teams in the Europa League or Europa Conference League are involved in play-off fixtures in the next round of those competitions, that could create further congestion.
But if necessary, FA Cup replays could potentially be scrapped in the third and fourth rounds, while the Carabao Cup semi-finals could be played over one leg instead of two.
Whatever happens, it is already something of a headache for the Premier League.
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