Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Burnley, Football
Joe Adams
Manchester United face Burnley in a must-win game for Erik ten Hag on Saturday evening.
The Red Devils have endured a dreadful start to the new Premier League campaign, having won just two of their opening five top-flight matches.
While they got their Champions League campaign off to the worst possible start on Wednesday, losing 4-3 to Bayern Munich to go bottom of Group A.
A clash against 19th-placed Burnley represents a chance to turn around their dismal form at Turf Moor, and United have been given a timely boost due to the later kick-off time.
Advert
Why does Burnley vs Man Utd kick-off at 8pm?
Burnley vs Manchester United was originally scheduled to take place at 3pm on Saturday afternoon due to the Premier League's new rules that clubs playing in Europe on Wednesday nights are not be expected to play in the early weekend fixture.
However, it was selected for broadcast by TNT Sports, who occupy the 12:30pm slot on a Saturday.
TNT's compromise was to consider other kick-off times rather than not show the game, and it was decided that 8pm was the only appropriate time due to Sky Sports' earlier broadcast of Brentford vs Everton, which kicks off at 5:30pm.
Explaining the situation, Andrew Georgiou, President of Sports at Discovery, told the Times: “We are happy to have the 12.30 kick-off that we purchased as part of the package but the reality is the clubs and the league have agreed that if there is a club playing in the Champions League on a Wednesday night they cannot play in the 12.30pm Saturday kick-off.
“At 12.30pm on the Saturday, it’s perfect for us, it’s our time slot. Unfortunately the Premier League and the clubs have agreed that if that happens it can’t start at 12.30pm so we have to find another slot.
“I don’t think we can be asked to change our picks. What we have to do is find out the best time-slot to accommodate the club’s needs and our needs in terms of which matches we pick.
“I don’t think we should be expected to change our picks on the basis of who is playing on a Wednesday night.
SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here HERE for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.