By Martin Graham
Manchester United they are entering a rare spell without a Saturday outing, with the club set to complete 10 league games in a row away from the traditional weekend slot. After the international break in November, none of their games before the FA Cup third round weekend on January 10-11 fall on a Saturday.
During this period, the team will perform three times on a Monday night, three times on a Sunday, participate in three midweek rounds and compete once on a Friday night. Several of these events also involve unusually early starts, including a midday contest at Crystal Palace at the end of November and a 12.30pm meeting in Leeds to kick off the new calendar year.
United’s last start on Saturday was their 2-2 draw Tottenham on November 8. His next appointment on Saturday, scheduled for January 17 against Manchester Citymay still change depending on the broadcasts selected for this weekend.
A mix of broadcast decisions and competition regulations explains the long run without a Saturday game. The three matches on Monday were selected specifically for this slot by the broadcasters. Meanwhile, Saturday’s scheduled picks for Crystal Palace and Leeds were moved due to their commitments earlier in the week – Palace host Strasbourg in the Conference League three days earlier, and Leeds play in the league on the previous Thursday. The Premier League avoids rescheduling a game by forcing a team to play again within 60 hours.
Home encounters with West Ham and Wolves and the trip to Burnley are within the designated midweek rounds. The Boxing Day game against Newcastle has its own broadcast window, while the pre-Christmas trip to Aston Villa is slotted into the regular Sunday 4.30pm slot.
How broadcast allocations are chosen
The current national TV deal contains five packages, with Sky Sports owning four. TNT Sports controls Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. slot, but does not have a first-choice pick. Sky has all the best options, covering Saturday at 5.30pm and Sunday at 4.30pm.
European competition largely determines which matches broadcasters can choose. Clubs playing in the Europa League or Conference League on Thursday, such as Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, cannot be scheduled for Saturday’s games. Teams traveling to the Champions League on a Wednesday can be placed in TNT’s Saturday evening selection.
Even with these restrictions, broadcasters sometimes adjust. TNT initially chose Crystal Palace v Manchester United for a Saturday date, but with Palace unable to play on that day, it was moved to Sunday’s midday kick-off. Sky’s Tottenham v Fulham selection was originally a Friday or Monday contender, but Tottenham’s Champions League game on Wednesday 26 November and a league game the following Tuesday pushed it to a Saturday night slot.
As United are not involved in Europe, they are more available for Monday’s games. However, the league imposes limits: in the Saturday slots (12:30 and 17:30), each club must appear at least once, and no team can exceed six appearances. Other slots have a maximum of five selections. United have already been picked three times for Monday night, leaving room for just two more picks.
How United Responds to Congestion
The club has acknowledged that it agreed to an increase in Monday and Friday games as part of the new broadcast cycle. At the same time, United have highlighted the strain it places on traveling supporters, noting the challenge of staying at or repeatedly visiting grounds outside normal weekend hours.
United informed their Fan Forum of their position and confirmed that chief executive Omar Berrada had held talks with Premier League chief executive Richard Masters to express his concerns. They highlighted that during the 12-week stretch, from October 5 to December 25, they only host one weekend game at Old Trafford and must travel to Palace for a midday kick-off on Sunday and to Wolves for an 8pm kick-off on Monday.
While the club accepts the financial value of prime-time slots, it stresses that the appeal of live television is rooted in the distinctive atmosphere created by supporters of the match, which should remain central when fixture lists are decided.
