Why is Man City vs Chelsea kicking off at 5.30 today and not 4.30?

The Chelsea and Manchester City Home Shirts — Man City host Chelsea today (Photo: Getty)

Manchester City take on Chelsea in a huge Premier League clash today – but the game will kick-off at a very unusual time.

Following the goalless draw with Sunderland and Arsenal’s dramatic 3-2 win at Bournemouth, City will be desperate for a win to keep up with their title rivals.

It is also Chelsea’s first match since Enzo Maresca left the club on New Year’s Day, with the Blues struggling for form and now facing an unpredictable future.

Given the importance of the fixture, it is no surprise to see it selected for TV but the game at the Etihad will kick-off at 5.30pm – highly surprising as Sunday matches are almost always at 2pm or 4.30pm.

In fact, none of the games on Sunday, January 4 will kick-off at a conventional time. But why?

Why is Man City vs Chelsea kicking off at 5.30pm today?

Given the congested festive fixture schedule, the Premier League are trying to ensure that there is a much time as possible between each club’s games.

As Leeds United played Liverpool on Thursday (New Year’s Day), their game against Manchester United had to take place on Sunday, January 4.

Leeds United v Manchester United - Premier League — The minor change to Leeds vs Man Utd’s kick-off time has created a knock-on effect (Photo: Getty)

Selected for TV by TNT Sports, it would ordinarily have kicked off at 12pm but in an attempt to give the players a little extra rest, it was pushed back to 12.30pm.

As a result, in order to avoid overlapping with the games that would have started at 2pm, Everton vs Brentford, Fulham vs Liverpool, Newcastle vs Crystal Palace and Tottenham vs Sunderland have been pushed back to 3pm.

And following the knock-on effect, Man City vs Chelsea has been pushed back from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

Man City vs Chelsea TV channel and live stream

In the UK, you can watch Man City vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event with streaming also available through the Sky Go app and NOW TV for subscribers.

Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!

As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.

Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.