Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Man City postponed to make way for PSV tie

London, Sep 14

Arsenal's Premier League game with Manchester City, originally set for October 19, has been postponed to allow the rearrangement of the Gunners' Europa League tie against PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal's game against PSV was set for Thursday, but due to a lack of available police in London after Queen Elizabeth II's death prompted the postponement. Arsenal will now play the Dutch side on October 20.

On the other hand, a new date for the Arsenal vs Manchester City fixture will be announced in due course.

"UEFA today announced that the UEFA Europa League tie between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven, originally scheduled to be played on Thursday 15 September, will now be played on Thursday 20 October at 19:00 CEST (18:00 local time)," UEFA said in a statement.

"The rescheduling of this match was possible after the decision of the Premier League to postpone the domestic match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC originally due to be played on 19 October.

UEFA would like to thank the Premier League and the clubs concerned for their flexibility and cooperation in the rescheduling of the UEFA Europa League match which had been postponed due to the impossibility for local police forces to guarantee its secure staging," it added.

Notably, a whole round of Premier League fixtures was postponed last weekend as football paused as a mark of respect in the wake of the Queen's death. Three more top-flight fixtures, due to be played this weekend -- Brighton v Crystal Palace, Manchester United v Leeds and Chelsea v Liverpool -- have been postponed in the run-up to the Queen's funeral on Monday.

The Premier League calendar is under pressure this season to find available slots in the calendar. It is especially challenging this season because of the staging of the World Cup in Qatar in November and December.

Speaking before the postponement of the match against Arsenal was confirmed, City manager Pep Guardiola said he was confident that a potential fixture logjam could be solved.

"The Premier League has the ability to find room for] the fixtures.We will find a way. The fixtures were always so tight every season," Guardiola said on Tuesday.

--IANS