Arsenal’s away trip to Southampton on Saturday February 25 must now be rearranged after the Saints’ booked their spot in the EFL Cup final.
No decision has been made from the Premier League as to when the game will be played and no announcement is expected before Thursday’s second EFL Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Hull City.
The trip to the south coast was scheduled amid a crucial run of fixtures for Arsene Wenger’s side, who are scheduled to play Liverpool March 4 and three days later host Bayern Munich at the Emirates in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.
Uefa’s calendar of European fixtures adds to the difficulty of rearranging games. Europe’s governing body states in its guidelines that domestic matches should end 30 minutes before Champions League or Europa League games kick off, though exceptions have been made involving Arsenal before.
The Football Association previously rearranged an FA Cup tie between Arsenal and Hull City to take place 45 minutes before two Champions League games kicked off but only after 72 hours of extensive negotiations with Uefa had left them with no alternative.
Champions League round of 16 fixtures are scheduled for the weeks beginning February 13 and 20 as well as March 6 and 13.
Manchester United will also see their fixture rearranged if they make the EFL Cup Final tonight – they hold a 2-0 first-leg lead over Hull – and Jose Mourinho has expressed his fears that the Manchester derby scheduled for that weekend will be put back to the end of the season.
“If we go to the EFL final and don't play Man City, I am sure they will choose an amazingly difficult moment for us to make us play that game,” Mourinho told a press conference yesterday.
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