Roy Hodgson’s worst fears were confirmed today when it emerged that many of his stars will be in action on the Sunday before England’s crunch World Cup qualifiers.
The release of the schedule for televised Premier League matches revealed that Liverpool v Manchester United and Arsenal v Tottenham will be screened by Sky Sports on Sunday September 1 just five days before they face Moldova and nine before the trip to Ukraine.
The England boss had hoped the glamour games would remain on Saturday August 31, to give his men the maximum time to recover.
Those matches are two of 43 live top-flight games Sky will show before December 1 while BT Sport will screen 12 Premier League matches over that period. This is the first of a three-year TV deal and Sky and BT are fighting a bitter battle to win over viewers.
Sky has dominated coverage of the top flight since the Premier League’s launch in 1992 and is determined to hold on to its position.
Sky has paid £1.2billion to screen the lion’s share of the games — 116 per season — while BT has paid £738million for 38 matches.
Crucially, this is the first contract under which Sky does not have exclusive pick of first games. It has used eight of its 20 first picks in its selection while BT has chosen five of its 18.
Of the games released today, Sky’s are far more attractive as it will show nine derbies and 24 games involving top-four sides. Stand-out games include Chelsea v Hull (Jose Mourinho’s first match back as Blues boss), United v Chelsea and the Manchester derby. BT’s biggest games involve Spurs’ clashes against Chelsea and United.
Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said: “There has been a lot of talk from BT and we’re delighted that the fixtures are out and people can see there is no comparison with what we offer.”
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BT director of sport Simon Green said: “We are thrilled that BT Sport viewers will be able to enjoy these top-of-the-table matches free with BT broadband.”
