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Arsenal’s Europa League clash with PSV Eindhoven, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed. The club said the decision was made after “liaison between UEFA, the Metropolitan Police, and ourselves, after the pass of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” UEFA, in their statement, cited “the severe limitations on police resources and organisational issues related to the ongoing events surrounding the national mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
The problem is there aren’t many dates available to reschedule the match. Group stage matches must be completed by November 3rd. From where I sit, it looks as if Arsenal will have to have a Premier League match postponed — likely October 19th against Manchester City — to make space to reschedule the Europa League contest. It would make sense to simply flip the legs, have Arsenal play at PSV on Thursday and host them at the end of October, but that may not a feasible swap days before a match.
UPDATE:
Arsenal sources very clear that they wanted and pushed for this game to go ahead and that in conversations with UEFA and PSV the prospect of a forfeit was not on the table. This isn't like the Spurs game last year. As for finding a slot, they'll do so "somehow".
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) September 12, 2022
As I was writing this update, the FA announced that they were lifting the suspension of football. The Women’s Super League should resume this weekend, with no matches to be played on Monday the 19th, the day of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. But the announcement specifically did not mention the Premier League.
The Premier League are still deciding what to do with the fixtures from this upcoming weekend. Arsenal are scheduled away to Brentford on Sunday. With the Queen’s funeral on Monday and the match in London, it’s tough to see the fixture going ahead. It may very well be that the next time we see Arsenal in action is October 1st against Tottenham.
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