Just asked this on the prem thread but ITV messed up a bit with Derby-Leicester surely?
All the other championship games ITV have picked in 2025 has been in the Sun 12pm slot bar a Boro-Sunderland match was a Monday night IIRC.
I know they have to duel with Sky but considering the paucity of prem games on Sunday to the neutral it would've been a nice pick from a lower standard prem Sunday selection of games.
I love the Championship but I'm obviously not watching this game with Villa-Arsenal on at the same time.
Neither Derby or Leicester even play in the following midweek round until Wednesday so no reason this game couldn't have been moved to Sunday.
Sat Jan 31
Leeds v Arsenal not on tv Chelsea v West Ham 1730
Liverpool v Newcastle 2000 Sun Feb 1
Forest v Palace 1400
Spurs v Man C 1630
2nd leg either Tue or Wed
But if Sky need to make it Wed and Thu
Then you need to look at movements after
Sat Feb 7
Arsenal v Sunderland not on tv
Wolves v Chelsea not on tv
Newcastle v Brentford 1730 Sun Feb 8
Brighton v Palace 1400
Liverpool v Man C 1630
So the likely game needed to be scheduled for Thurs 2nd leg would be
Palace v Chelsea as that only involves a movement of a Chelsea Sat 3pm non TV game
Newcastle v Man C will be Wed Feb 4th
Unless its Palace v Chelsea as that cant be Tue Feb 3rd
If Palace progress the EFL will either:
need to play 2nd legs on Wednesday and Thursday night and then ask the PL to move a league match from Saturday to Sunday which would then mean another match moved Tuesday to Wednesday. Unlikely
Or
play both second legs Wednesday night
Or
Make someone play 2 games in 3 days
EDIT
or Spurs v Man City super Sunday to Saturday 5:30 as a swap with Chelsea v West Ham to fix things so city could play Tuesday
If it’s Palace vs Chelsea, the second leg will be Thursday night with Wolves vs Chelsea moving to Sunday.
Games already moved for TV won’t move again.
Good on the EFL for getting this out before the weekend, and the fact that this schedule doesn't inconvenience fans going to any other matches. OK, a potential clash of semis but best available option if Palace prevail vs Arsenal.
Comments
Yes Tonight’s main offering, is a bit baffling.
Of course I forgot that
All the other championship games ITV have picked in 2025 has been in the Sun 12pm slot bar a Boro-Sunderland match was a Monday night IIRC.
I know they have to duel with Sky but considering the paucity of prem games on Sunday to the neutral it would've been a nice pick from a lower standard prem Sunday selection of games.
I love the Championship but I'm obviously not watching this game with Villa-Arsenal on at the same time.
Neither Derby or Leicester even play in the following midweek round until Wednesday so no reason this game couldn't have been moved to Sunday.
Chelsea Man City Newcastle
And possibly Arsenal
First legs on Tue 13 or Wed 14 Jan just after the FA Cup weekend
Newcastle Chelsea and Man C play Sat 10th so this means a Tuesday 13th match can easily be scheduled now
Will be Wed 14th
Man C v Newcastle
Will be Tue 13th
Arsenal v Chelsea would be Tue Feb 3rd
Unless its Palace v Chelsea as that cant be Tue Feb 3rd
Couldn't Chelsea, v Palace be the 13th?
Leeds v Arsenal not on tv
Chelsea v West Ham 1730
Liverpool v Newcastle 2000
Sun Feb 1
Forest v Palace 1400
Spurs v Man C 1630
2nd leg either Tue or Wed
But if Sky need to make it Wed and Thu
Then you need to look at movements after
Sat Feb 7
Arsenal v Sunderland not on tv
Wolves v Chelsea not on tv
Newcastle v Brentford 1730
Sun Feb 8
Brighton v Palace 1400
Liverpool v Man C 1630
So the likely game needed to be scheduled for Thurs 2nd leg would be
Palace v Chelsea as that only involves a movement of a Chelsea Sat 3pm non TV game
If Palace progress the EFL will either:
need to play 2nd legs on Wednesday and Thursday night and then ask the PL to move a league match from Saturday to Sunday which would then mean another match moved Tuesday to Wednesday. Unlikely
Or
play both second legs Wednesday night
Or
Make someone play 2 games in 3 days
EDIT
or Spurs v Man City super Sunday to Saturday 5:30 as a swap with Chelsea v West Ham to fix things so city could play Tuesday
Can’t this wait until we have the confirmed draw?
Well we know the draw
There is only one either or
So we can easily work out the potential issues already
We don’t have the confirmed draw. Unless Chelsea are going to play both Arsenal and Crystal Palace…
I just don’t see any point in trying to find a solution to a problem that we don’t even know is going to happen.
Games already moved for TV won’t move again.
To add, Chelsea vs Leeds the following Tuesday would also need to move which is not ideal.
https://www.efl.com/news/2025/december/19/carabao-cup-semi-final-schedule-confirmed/
I forgot that Chelsea vs Leeds would need to move if Chelsea’s second leg was Thursday, so that’s a sensible solution.
Good on the EFL for getting this out before the weekend, and the fact that this schedule doesn't inconvenience fans going to any other matches. OK, a potential clash of semis but best available option if Palace prevail vs Arsenal.