Why are there no Premier League games today? – The Athletic

The Premier League has reached its penultimate matchweek, however, there are no fixtures taking place on the typical Saturday game day.

This has been scheduled to provide an entire day of coverage for the FA Cup final, which Liverpool and Chelsea will compete for at Wembley Stadium.

The Premier League made a decision at the start of the campaign to ensure that the FA Cup, the world’s oldest cup competition, would be given a stand-alone day with no top-flight fixtures taking place on the same day.

While there was no direct overlap in kick-off timings for last season’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Leicester, three other Premier League matches took place on the same day at varied times. This season, however, the entire day will be devoted to the FA Cup final.

As a result, the majority of this gameweek’s Premier League fixtures will be taking place on Sunday, with Newcastle United against Arsenal and Southampton versus Liverpool taking place on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

The final round of Premier League fixtures will take place on Sunday, May 22. Prior to that, however, three outstanding rescheduled matches will be played on Thursday, May 19. Namely, Aston Villa versus Burnley, Chelsea against Leicester City and Crystal Palace’s trip to Everton.

Chelsea are hoping to lift their ninth FA Cup, while Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool remain in the quest for a historic “quadruple” of trophies, having already lifted the Carabao Cup earlier this season. The match will also see a return to full capacity crowds at an FA Cup final in three years, with only 20,000 fans witnessing Leicester’s 1-0 victory against Chelsea inside Wembley Stadium last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

(Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

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