Premier League: Why Arsenal vs. Everton and Chelsea vs. Newcastle kick off at 5:30pm on Saturday

Two Premier League matches kick off at 17:30 GMT on Saturday ArsenalHis development in the Champions League this season.

Arsenal host Everton over the same period of time on Saturday, while Chelsea host Newcastle at the same time.

The encounter between the Blues and Magpies was originally scheduled to kick off on Saturday evening, but the Arsenal match was moved forward one day from Sunday after the Arsenal’s draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.

Arsenal had to face their German opponents on that date as they could not play the second leg at home in the Emirates on the same day as Tottenham’s match against Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea and Arsenal played the first leg of their European encounter on Wednesday, with the reverse matches scheduled to take place six days later.

If the Arsenal match had not been moved, Mikel Arteta’s side would have played their home games against Everton and Bayer Leverkusen just 54 hours apart.

Saturday’s two Premier League matches will be broadcast at 5:30pm simultaneously on Sky Sports for the first time this season.

With all nine English clubs who have qualified for Europe this season still in the round of 16 of their competitions, this has caused some conundrums in the Premier League’s scheduling throughout this season.

For the same reason, Manchester City’s trip to West Ham on Saturday will start at 8pm, having initially been chosen to start at 12.30pm.

As Manchester City played away in Europe on Wednesday evening, this made them eligible for Saturday lunchtime play to be called off.

The Premier League aims to ensure all teams have a 72-hour gap between kick-off times to protect player welfare.