Why there is no 12:30pm kick-off in the Premier League this afternoon amid unique top-flight schedule

Premier League football will continue to disturb fans with an erratic fixture schedule as there will be no early kick-off this afternoon.

England's top-flight will be without a 12:30pm kick-off for a third successive Saturday after the Merseyside derby was postponed.

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Leaders Liverpool's trip to local rivals Everton was due to be last weekend's early kick-off before Storm Darragh intervened.

However, the typical Premier League schedule has not reverted to normal on Saturday ahead of the busy festive run of fixtures.

This means that Chelsea's 2-1 away win over Leicester City on November 23 was the last 12:30pm kick-off and here's why...

Why is there no early kick-off?

TNT Sports occupies the rights to screen top-flight matches in the 12:30pm slot with Package A.

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The Premier League's secondary broadcaster has chosen Tottenham's trip to Southampton as their pick for Gameweek 16.

Spurs played Scottish giants Rangers away in the Europa League on Thursday, which has forced TNT to alter their usual schedule.

TNT have previously agreed that games involving any club that play away in Europe would not be faced with a 12:30pm slot on Saturday.

In August 2023, Manchester City's 1-0 win over Newcastle was moved to an 8pm kick-off after their Super Cup triumph days before.

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Tottenham's Europa League commitments mean the club play on Thursday and therefore can't be involved in a Saturday fixture.

To avoid competition with Sky Sports' Super Sunday coverage, which covers the 2pm and 4:30pm slots, TNT moved Spurs to 7pm instead.

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talkSPORT will have live and exclusive coverage from both of Sunday's two late kick-offs, starting with Tottenham against Southampton.

Commentary from St Mary's comes from Ian Danter and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto.

On our other station, Minto's former Blues side host Brentford, with Joe Shennan and former England captain Stuart Pearce on hand.

marvelbet369.com will also have updates in our dedicated live Premier League blog.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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