Why Arsenal v Newcastle United kicks-off at 8pm - new Premier League rule explained

Newcastle United travel to north London aiming to bounce back from their 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth at the weekend - one that saw them reliant on a very late Matt Ritchie equaliser to grab a point. The Magpies will be backed by a sold-out away end in the capital, despite the kick-off time meaning no supporters will be able to travel back to the north east on trains following the game.

Saturday’s match kicks-off at 8pm at the Emirates Stadium - a time that was slammed by Wor Flags during a recent demonstration at St Jame’ Park. Ahead of their clash with Luton Town, a game that took place on football’s ‘Green Weekend’, the group unveiled a banner that read: ‘TV before fans’ accompanied by details of kick-off times that meant Newcastle United fans had no way of travelling back to the north east on public transport.

This weekend’s clash against the Gunners was highlighted in that display with an 8pm kick-off set by broadcaster TNT Sports who will show the game live in the United Kingdom. Whilst Newcastle United supporters have not been taken into consideration ahead of this match, it is actually a new Premier League rule that has dictated Saturday’s kick-off time and one that has twice before affected the Magpies.

A new rule, introduced at the beginning of the season, stated that any club playing in European competition on a Wednesday night, as Arsenal did against Porto last night, will not be allowed to play in the traditional 12:30pm Saturday kick-off slot and instead will play at 8pm on Saturday. This means that TNT Sports, who usually broadcast the early Saturday kick-offs, will still be able to pick their preferred match every weekend and not face restrictions on who they can and can’t pick based on UEFA’s scheduling.

This was introduced to give players more rest time between midweek European games and their domestic weekend scheduled game. Newcastle United have twice this season had games moved to 8pm on a Saturday to accommodate this rule with their clash against Manchester City back in August and Manchester United at St James’ Park in early-December being impacted.