Arsenal may not be at the summit of the Premier League anymore, but their crunch London derby against Chelsea on Tuesday night is still likely to have major title implications.
The Gunners have well and truly conceded their advantage to Manchester City over the past few weeks: Pep Guardiola's side are now a point above their rivals after thrashing them 4-1 at the Etihad last week and beating Fulham at the weekend.
Mikel Arteta's men must now to get back to winning ways against a Chelsea side in free fall to put the pressure on the champions. However, the match should have already taken place as it was originally scheduled to be a 5.30pm Saturday kick-off.
The fixture had to be changed due to policing issues, meaning the two sides will lock horns on Tuesday at 8pm. The match will still be broadcast live on television, though.
Despite the fact some recent high-profile fixtures have not been broadcast after being moved, Sky Sports have been given the green light to show the game as they had initially selected the match for their schedule. Sky opted to show the match in its revised slot rather than selecting a different game at the weekend.
The decision to move the fixture with less than two weeks' notice was slammed by Arsenal in an official statement. The statement read: "The Premier League has announced that our home league match against Chelsea will now take place on Tuesday, May 2, kicking off at 8pm (UK time).
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"This change has been made as a result of the Metropolitan Police revising its position on policing the match. After working to try to find a solution with the Met Police, we are very disappointed with the impact and disruption this fixture change will cause to our supporters, particularly after this match had been initially approved for a Saturday evening kick-off."
However, Mirror Football revealed earlier this month that the Met Police had placed the blame firmly on the Premier League. They fired back with a statement of their own, which read: “The Met works closely with partners to ensure the safety and security of those attending football matches in London.
“On 2nd February, within 24 hours of being informed of the proposed scheduling of this match, the Met raised an issue with Arsenal Football Club and the Premier League regarding the proposed 17:30hrs kick off for the Arsenal V Chelsea football match on Saturday 29th April, on the basis that the later weekend kick off time presents a higher risk of crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder.
“To mitigate these risks, the Met asked for the match to take place at an earlier time on the same day (Saturday 29th April), and our position on this has not changed.
“An Emergency Safety Advisory Group meeting with key partners on 6th February failed to resolve the issue, and following a further meeting on 31st March the suggested earlier kick off time was declined by Arsenal and the Premier League, who instead decided to reschedule the fixture to the alternative time and date of 20:00hrs on Tuesday 2nd May.”
The match will be played at the Emirates Stadium and broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League with kick-off at 8pm.
