Premier League bosses are confident the fixture schedule will be played without the need to scrap FA Cup replays.
Third and fourth-round replays were ditched in each of the last two seasons because of the backlog caused by Covid. But top-flight chiefs have not asked the Football Association to scrap replays even though they will now look to reschedule the complete block of last weekend’s fixtures into a midweek in January.
The replays are a big thing for lower division clubs as they provide welcome revenue and despite the FA scrapping them in the last two years, there is no appetite to make that a permanent move.
However, the Premier League will have to reschedule a further three games - Manchester United v Leeds, Chelsea v Liverpool and Brighton v Crystal Palace - but are confident there will be room in the calendar next year.
Arsenal are also asking for next month’s game with Manchester City to be rescheduled to allow them to play their Europa League tie with PSV Eindhoven, as they have to squeeze it in before the end of the Group stages.
That is unlikely to please City but the Gunners will have to reschedule a midweek league game to fit the PSV clash in. The Premier League believe that they will be able to handle this latest fixture headache after two years of coping with coronavirus.
