After nine Premier League sides have competed in European competitions this week, all eyes will be back on domestic action for all 20 sides this weekend. Saturday consists of five mouth-watering fixtures, from Sunderland hosting Bournemouth to Newcastle United visiting Everton, but why has Sunday's match-up between Manchester United and Crystal Palace been given the unusual kick-off time of 12pm (GMT)?
Of course, much of Sunday's attention will be on who will reign victorious as Mikel Arteta's high-flying Arsenal travel across the capital to face Chelsea at 16:30 but, before that, Ruben Amorim and his men are set to take on the Eagles – who are currently sitting fifth in the 2025/26 Premier League table – at Selhurst Park.
The Old Trafford outfit are currently on a three-match streak without a win – having drawn 2-2 against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur before falling to a 1-0 loss to Everton last weekend – and will be looking to get back to winning ways. For Palace, their last league outing resulted in a comfortable 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Why Man Utd Will Face Palace at 12pm On Sunday
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It's all to play for when the two sides lock horns at Selhurst Park on Sunday, though the sharp-eyed among us will have spotted the unusual kick-off time. But why is that the case? Typically, on a Sunday, matches are played at 14:00 before the match of the weekend kicks off at 16:30; which, this weekend, is set to involve Chelsea and Arsenal.
It's largely down to television schedules. United's trip to south London was originally scheduled to be a 12:30pm kick-off on November 29 with the encounter set to be shown on TNT Sports, but that was later pushed back by 24 hours by virtue of the fact that Palace are competing in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening.
Oliver Glasner's side are facing a trip to French side Strasbourg and such a swift turnaround was deemed impractical by the Premier League's powers that be. There are also midweek matches happening in the days following this weekend's clash between United and Palace, thus limiting any further room for fixture changes.
In an attempt to make it fair for all teams in England's primary division, the Premier League tried to be flexible with their scheduling so that no team plays two matches within 60 hours of each other. On this occasion, Glasner's men will play United 64 hours after the start of their midweek trip to Strasbourg.
Sunday's Schedule of Premier League Fixtures
Time (GMT)
12:00
14:05
14:05
14:05
16:30
The re-scheduling of United v Palace has also altered the kick-off times of three other Premier League matches on Sunday – Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest vs Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United v Liverpool.
Initially, those games were set to proceed at 14:00 but have been pushed back, albeit by only five minutes, to 14:05 as a way of reducing any overlap between the end of the clash at Selhurst Park and the triumvirate of mid-afternoon games getting underway.
Man Utd and Palace's 2025/26 Premier League Prospects
The fixture is certainly intriguing. Just a few weeks ago, it looked as if Amorim – widely regarded as one of the best young managers in world football – was finally getting a tune of his players as the Portuguese won back-to-back games in the Premier League for the first time. Injuries to Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha, however, have halted any sort of progress.
The absence of the aforementioned duo was evident in their recent 1-0 defeat to David Moyes-managed Everton, but they will be hoping to buck the trend of not picking up three points on the road to Palace this Sunday. A title race is, of course, not on the cards but the Old Trafford faithful remain hopeful that a push for a spot in Europe is.
Comparatively, Palace – despite losing the talismanic Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in the summer – are currently one of the most fun teams to watch in the Premier League and their defensive solidity is the cornerstone to how well they are currently operating under Glasner's stewardship.
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For this season, they've dealt with the juggling between Premier League and European action relatively well by picking up 20 points from their opening 12 league matches. If the capital club are able to secure European football for two seasons on the trot, which is looking ever so likely as the weeks continue to pass by, it'll be regarded as a very positive campaign all round.