The EPL was paused due following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II but the Premier League authorities have confirmed that matches are going to resume this weekend.
All the matches this past weekend were postponed just like all major sporting activities in the country and while most of the teams will be back in action in the upcoming gameweek, there are three games which have been postponed.
The Chelsea vs Liverpool match, the Man United vs Leeds United tie and Palace’s visit to the Amex Stadium have all been called off due to policing issues.
An official statement read: “Seven of the 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend will be played, with three matches postponed due to events surrounding The Queen’s funeral.
“Matches postponed on Sunday 18 September are Chelsea’s matches against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, and Manchester United’s home match v Leeds United.
“Brighton & Hove Albion’s fixture against Crystal Palace, that was due to be played at 15:00 BST on Saturday 17 September, will also remain postponed.”
The #PL will resume this weekend after a pause to the season as a mark of respect following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Seven of the 10 Matchweek 8 fixtures will be played, with three postponed due to events surrounding The Queen’s funeral.
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 12, 2022
Is the EPL going to suffer from major fixture congestion?
The sporting bodies in England were under no obligation to cancel any matches but still, all of them chose to halt their respective fixtures as a mark of respect.
However, most of the EPL clubs are fearing a fixture congestion and now these six teams will be under even more pressure.
The likes of Brighton, Palace and Leeds United will have to play not one but two matches at a later date and this is going to be really problematic because the World Cup is in the middle of the season.
To make matters worse, the other three teams are playing in Europe so they will have even more headaches. Chelsea and Liverpool are in the Champions League while Manchester United are playing on Thursday nights in the Europa League
There were rumours that the English clubs were not in favour of cancelling another match but after talking with the local authorities and police, the EPL stakeholders had no other option but to postpone these three games.
This is such a situation that no teams can say anything so the only option they have now is to play two midweek games – hopefully during the second half of the campaign.
