The Premier League have finally confirmed an official date and kick-off time for Chelsea's huge clash against Manchester United in October.
The Blues were set to play United on Sunday, October 23 but due to their involvement in the UEFA Champions League, the game has been brought forward a day and will be played on Saturday, October 22. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 17:30 PM, but it comes at the expense of a reduced allocation for away fans travelling to Stamford Bridge.
The Metropolitan Police proposed a reduction for United's away allocation due to policing concerns resulting in lengthy discussions between all parties in the hope of finding an agreement. Chelsea have already had matches against Fulham and Liverpool postponed so far this season, resulting in them having a much busier period of fixtures throughout October.
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United released a statement after finally reaching an agreement regarding away fans allocation for the game at Stamford Bridge. The statement read: “The police initially sought to cut our allocation from 2,994 to 1,500. We have strongly opposed any reduction and worked with Chelsea to present a range of mitigations to the local Safety Advisory Group, which we believe could have allowed the game to proceed safely with our full allocation of fans.
“Unfortunately, the police have continued to insist on a reduction. However, we have succeeded in increasing the allocation to 2,370.”
The game was originally scheduled for 23 October at 16:30 PM. But the match had to be moved due to Chelsea’s involvement in the Champions League on the following Tuesday, as per The Athletic. The Blues are set to play Red Bull Salzburg in Austria on Tuesday, October 25 which would have given Graham Potter's side just one day between playing United and featuring in the Champions League.
After the game was moved to the Saturday, there was difficulty with scheduling as it was selected for a broadcast slot by Sky Sports. As a result, it had to be played at 17:30 PM, which led to the Metropolitan Police proposing a reduction in the number of away fans.
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