Arsenal are hoping to play their Europa League second group stage fixture against PSV this Thursday. However, confidence that the match will be able to go ahead has since dipped from the weekend.
The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has led to the Premier League postponing last weekend's fixtures out of a mark of respect. With the City of London planning what will be one of the biggest police operations in history for the capital, Arsenal’s midweek clash remains in doubt due to a lack of available police to martial the event.
Suggestions for how to solve the issue are underway. Arsenal and UEFA are in discussions as are the organisers and Metropolitan Police Force regarding finding, if possible, a solution.
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Arsenal have seen one of their previous UEFA fixtures swapped before. The Gunners were drawn to play Rennes in the Europa League last-16 in February of 2019.
This was the season that eventually Arsenal would lose to Chelsea in the final of the competition. This is relevant because Chelsea’s inclusion in the last 16 draw was the reason for the fixture being switched.
Arsenal had been due to host Rennes on the March 7th and then fly to France the following week for the second leg in Rennes on March 14th. However, because Chelsea were drawn to play Dynamo Kyiv on the same night, UEFA’s city-clash rule meant the Gunners’ two legs had to be swapped.
Whilst there is no city-clash problem here, with West Ham United playing their UEFA Conference League on Thursday in Silkeborg, Denmark it would likely be too late now to make the switch. In 2019, the switch was made on the day of the draw and even though some quick-thinking fans who had bought tickets to Rennes as soon as the draw was made lost money, there was no issue with the switch due to the already established rule.
A switch of the game to Eindhoven would of course solve Thursday’s policing issues. However, PSV supporters who have booked their travel to London would be left out of pocket, although this might still be the case anyway - Rangers' clash against Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday has been pushed back by 24 hours with no away fans permitted to attend.
And were Arsenal's clash to be switched, the logistics for Eindhoven to prepare for a game in such a short space of time might not be feasible. A decision is hoped to be made soon to put minds at least at ease knowing what will happen.
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