With just six huge games to go between now and the end of the season, the battle for Champions League football has perhaps never been closer.
And after the most recent round of European football fixtures, Newcastle fans can adjust their calendar ever-so slightly after the Premier League confirmed changes to their upcoming TV schedule.
These changes include two huge games where wins would almost certainly cement ourselves as a firm favourite to finish in the top five places.
Chelsea changed and Arsenal re-arranged
The club have officially confirmed that both our games against Chelsea and Arsenal have been rearranged and selected for TV coverage.
This comes following Chelsea’s victory over Legia Warsaw and progressing to the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League, and Arsenal reaching the last four of the Champions League as well.
The clash against the Blues, long pencilled as a decider over who will and won’t make the top five, will now be played at 12:00 on Sunday the 11th of May.
Meanwhile our trip to the Emirates, the second of the season after the Carabao Cup semi-final victory, is the following Sunday at 16:30.
This means that the full dates and times of our final six fixtures are:
- Aston Villa (a) Sat 19th April at 17:30
- Ipswich (h) Sat 26th April at 15:00
- Brighton (a) Sun 4th May at 14:00
- Chelsea (h) Sun 11th May at 12:00
- Arsenal (a) Sun 18th May at 16:30
- Everton (h) Sun 25th May at 16:00
A sign of things to come
With Conference League football guaranteed at a minimum, and Champions League football looking likelier and likelier by the week, we can perhaps anticipate a lot of fixture changes coming our way next season.
Unlike the ill-fated 23/24 campaign, where we didn’t have knockout fixtures to factor into our schedule, an increased number of group stage games on top of a stronger possibility of reaching the knockout rounds could see us playing on Sunday a lot more often next season.
However, it will all be worthwhile, with the money gained from playing in Europe and being allocated more TV spots on Sunday can and will go a long way in terms of our finances and sticking to PSR.
