Manchester City’s mouth-watering Premier League game against Liverpool has been rescheduled to a midday slot due to concerns raised by the police regarding fan violence.
Pep Guardiola’s men have released an official announcement regarding the kick-off time alteration after police voiced apprehension towards fan behaviour that has marred this contest in recent years.
Liverpool will take a trip to the Etihad Stadium on November 25, but while the date remains the same, the kick-off will move from 5.30 pm to 12.30 pm for safety reasons.
Instead of exchanging tackles in the evening kick-off, Man City and the Reds will lock horns in the afternoon to avoid more mayhem on the streets.
An all-London clash between Arsenal and Brentford will take the evening slot after the local safety advisory group refused to grant the Cityzens permission to host the game late.
Fan violence has been a common theme in the recent matches between Man City and Liverpool.
In the latest incident, a 15-year-old girl was left ‘scarred for life’ when a pot weighted with coins hit her, casting more doubt on the security around this fixture.
Only two months before that event, Man City fans were accused of making malicious chants about the Hillsborough disaster.
The Cityzens threw similar accusations at the Liverpool faithful over throwing projectiles at their club bus ahead of their Champions League encounter on Merseyside.
The visiting supporters won’t like another safety measure applied by the local authorities to reduce the possibility of more incidents.
With only 2,400 tickets being made available, Liverpool saw their allocation take a 20% cut ahead of their next trip to Manchester, all in an effort to ensure a more peaceful event.
Unlike last season, the Reds are widely expected to stay in the Premier League title contention until the season finale after only losing once in eight league games in 2023/24.
They’re just one point adrift of defending champions Man City and three off the leading duo Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, suggesting the upcoming showdown at Etihad could be even more intense.
