Premier League Considers Chelsea v Man Utd Showdown

The executives at Sky Sports must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of a fixture rearrangement which could see Chelsea versus Manchester United being rescheduled from April 14 to May 8 or 9.

The Premiership season is scheduled to end on Sunday, May 13 – so it’s possible that the May 8 or 9 midweek match could decide who would be this year’s champions. Of course, there’s still several months to go until the season ends, so anything can happen between now and then. But the match certainly is appetizing.

The reason for the possible fixture change, according to The Guardian, is due to Chelsea being scheduled to play Man United at Stamford Bridge on April 14 — which would be the date of the FA Cup semi-final. If either Chelsea or Man United progress to the semi-final round, the match will be postponed to the likely date of May 8 or 9.

Both sides are currently in the third round of the FA Cup. Man United face Aston Villa at Old Trafford on January 7, while Chelsea play Macclesfield at Stamford Bridge on January 6.

The conspiracy theorist in me makes me wonder whether the Chelsea against Man United match was originally scheduled for April 14 on purpose if the Premier League knew that the FA Cup semi-finals would be held that day. The match would be a perfect endorsement for the league and would generate huge amounts of interest around the world if the league is still a two horse race by then.

Looking at the fixture schedule, Chelsea play Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on May 5, while Man United travel to Eastlands to play Man City on the same day. On the final day of the season, May 13, Chelsea play Everton at home while Man United are at home against West Ham United. The Champions League final, meanwhile, isn’t until May 23, while the semi-finals of the Champions League will be May 1/2.

How many of you think that the Premiership title will come down to the May 8/9th match if either Chelsea or Man U qualify for the FA Cup semi-final??