Liverpool’s final game before the international break sees them host Aston Villa at Anfield in a late kickoff on Saturday evening, here’s why.
Premier League fixtures are scheduled every summer, but then it is up to the broadcasters to select their chosen games and dates during various slots throughout the campaign.
Liverpool have been broadcast live more often than not this season, and that remains the case in the final match before we endure another pause due to international exploits.
Arne Slot‘s side will host sixth-placed Villa on Saturday at 8pm (GMT), an unusually late start time for a league game.
The reason for this is that TNT Sports could not schedule this clash for their usual 12.30pm slot as Villa competed in the Champions League away from home on Wednesday evening.
It was agreed ahead of the 2021/22 season that no clubs playing on a Wednesday night in the Champions League would be scheduled for an early kickoff in the Premier League the following Saturday.
That has since been tweaked to only cover teams playing away in Europe, which is why the Reds still had a lunchtime kickoff at Crystal Palace after facing Bologna.
It is a change to the familiar Saturday schedule of 12.30pm, 3pm and 5.30pm kickoffs, as TNT Sports were required to find a solution should they wish to select a specific game after European ties.
In the clash that sees first meet sixth, Villa will head into the game with one day less to prepare having lost their Champions League game at Club Brugge on Wednesday, 24 hours after Liverpool won at Anfield.
Finding 12.30 alternative
In 2023, Andrew Georgiou, president of WBD Sports Europe which now co-owns TNT Sports, explained the need to find another kickoff time with the Times:
He said: “We are happy to have the 12.30 kick-off that we purchased as part of the package but the reality is the clubs and the league have agreed that if there is a club playing in the Champions League on a Wednesday night they cannot play in the 12.30pm Saturday kick-off.
“At 12.30pm on the Saturday, it’s perfect for us, it’s our time slot. Unfortunately, the Premier League and the clubs have agreed that if that happens it can’t start at 12.30pm so we have to find another slot.
“I don’t think we can be asked to change our picks. What we have to do is find out the best time slot to accommodate the club’s needs and our needs in terms of which matches we pick.”
The current broadcast deal has TNT Sports showing 52 Premier League games per season.
