Crystal Palace travel to Aston Villa this weekend for their third Premier League test of the season, but theyll be doing so at an unfamiliar time.
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 Palaces strange kick-off time, but its not the whole story.
Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace kick-off at 7pm on a SUNDAY
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 Palaces European commitments.
Villa vs Palace was originally picked to be Sky Sports Friday night fixture back in August, but that wasnt possible due to the Eagles facing Norwegian outfit Fredrikstad in a Conference League qualifier the night before.
Given it had already been selected for TV as a standalone fixture, another free slot needed to be found, and Skys Monday Night Football slot was unavailable due to the start of the international break next week.
That meant the best and only solution was the Sunday evening slot, allowing Palace sufficient recovery time and keeping broadcasters happy at the same time.
The 7pm slot is not a go-to when sorting TV picks, but is there as a fall-back option should it become necessary, as is the case here.
In FourFourTwos view, while we can never get enough football and certainly wont turn down an extra dose on Sunday night its clearly less than ideal for fans going to the game, especially the travelling Palace contingent.
With some likely having travelled to Norway in the week, they will probably have to arrange coach or car travel for this one, with Sunday service on the trains making that route difficult.
A return home that will stretch beyond midnight, with work the next day for most, is not desirable for anyone.
Villa take on Palace this weekend when Premier League action returns.
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