Liverpool are being tipped to shift potential plans to move the December fixture against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to Christmas Eve after concerns have expressed over holding a game so close to Christmas Day when travelling home from London to Merseyside will be a significant tough decision for fans.
The last Premier League fixture played on Christmas Eve was in 1995 when Manchester United faced Leeds, but Sky Sports are apparently considering moving one game the clash between Arsenal and Liverpool to the 24th this year as it falls on a Sunday and would fill their usual ‘Super Sunday’ slot at 4pm.
Originally scheduled for 23rd December, the Liverpool Echo reveals that the Reds are ‘aware’ of the proposed date change and are aid to be ‘strongly against’ it being played on Christmas Eve.
A statement from supporters group Spirit of Shankly urged ‘common sense’ to prevail and expressed a sincere hope that “both clubs, police, television companies and the Premier League decide against such a move.”
The group further commented, “Changing to Christmas Eve would have an untold impact on staff and supporters, particularly away supporters. Supporters would be faced with the prospect of getting home in the early hours of Christmas morning.
“We are in the process of contacting the relevant personnel to make it clear that it would be completely unacceptable to expect supporters to travel back from the capital at that time.”
It may, however, already be too late as, according to the Daily Star, a decision has been made by Sky Sports and Liverpool and Arsenal will be ‘made’ to play on 24th December.
The tabloid claims that the Christmas Eve proposal has been ‘in the pipeline for a few weeks’ and that Sky’s decision was made ‘some time ago’. It is also stated that no amount of opposition from supporters is likely to have any impact on when the game is played.