Arsenal and Palace fixtures moved

The Premier League has agreed to move games involving Arsenal and Crystal Palace in December to ease fixture congestion.

Arsenal's trip to Everton and Palace's game at Leeds - both originally scheduled for 14:00 GMT on Sunday, 21 December - will now be played at 20:00 on Saturday, 20 December.

The move means the two sides will have an extra day to prepare for their EFL Cup quarter-final on 23 December.

The decision to move forward the two Premier League matches has been done after requests from both clubs.

It is understood the desire for both teams to have the same recovery time before the EFL Cup tie was a factor, though television scheduling is also believed to have been a consideration.

There is an acknowledgment that the 20:00 kick-off does provide travelling supporters with logistical difficulties.

But the Premier League says the decision has been taken with the players' well-being at the forefront of its mind.

It said: "Player welfare is a priority for the Premier League, and we have therefore granted requests from Arsenal and Crystal Palace to move their respective fixtures.

"This comes after the scheduling of matches from other competitions around Premier League fixtures without adequate player recovery time.

"This is also further evidence of the impact the expanded Uefa competitions have on the domestic fixture calendar."