Arsenal and Crystal Palace Premier League games moved to ease fixture congestion

The Premier League has decided to postpone matches involving Arsenal and Crystal Palace in December to ease fixture congestion.

Arsenal’s trip to Everton and Crystal Palace’s match at Leeds, both originally scheduled for 14:00 GMT on Sunday 21 December, will now be played the day before, on Saturday 20 December, at 20:00 GMT.

The move means both sides will have an extra day to prepare for the EFL Cup quarter-final on 23 December.

The cup match was moved by the EFL from its original date of 16 December because in this scenario Palace, who also compete in the Europa Conference League, would have to play three times in five days.

Palace will need to play two matches in three days due to their Conference League tie against Finnish side KuPS, scheduled to be played on Thursday, December 18.

Arsenal say the possibility of playing an EFL Cup tie on Christmas Eve has been rejected due to the impact it would have on fans and club staff.

The Gunners added that they would provide additional buses for the trip to Merseyside on December 20 at a subsidized price of £10.