Crystal Palace travel to Aston Villa in a rare Sunday 7pm Premier League kickoff because of Palace's European fixtures and television scheduling. Sky Sports had originally selected Villa v Palace as a Friday night televised fixture, but the Eagles faced Fredrikstad in a Conference League qualifier the previous night. Sky needed an alternative slot and could not use Monday Night Football because the international break begins next week. The Sunday evening kickoff provides Palace extra recovery time while preserving broadcasters' standalone scheduling. The 7pm Sunday slot serves as a fallback option for exceptional calendar conflicts.
Since the dawn of Sky Sports, fans of top-tier teams and increasingly those from the lower division are accustomed to being at the behest of an ever-changing schedule to pack as much football onto screens as possible. That partly explains Villa vs Palace's strange kick-off time, but it's not the whole story. You may like Unai Emery will have to make do with the late Sunday kick-off to account for Palace's European commitments this week (Image credit: Getty Images)
While this is not the first Sunday 7pm kick-off in recent years with Fulham v Manchester United, Chelsea v Brentford and Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur getting the same treatment last season it is a rarity. As was the case with that trio of games last season, it has arisen mainly due to Palace's European commitments. Ollie Watkins levelled the game in the first half of this fixture last term, and will hope to be on the scoresheet again (Image credit: Getty Images)
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