Manchester United and Manchester City will both begin their 2020/21 season at a later date to offer more recovery time after their European exploits.
Both clubs were knocked out of the Europa League and Champions League, respectively, last week.
City were defeated 3-1 by Lyon on Saturday night at the quarter-final stage, whilst United lost 2-1 to Sevilla in the semi-final 24 hours later.
Due to their extended involvement in European competition both clubs would have been forced to return to action in a little over three weeks for the Premier League start on September 12.
However, according to the Mirror, both Manchester clubs have now been given a guaranteed 30-day break from the date of their final game this season, alongside the rest of their Premier League rivals.
That means they will not be required to play on September 12 and 13, the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.
Instead, United and City will play their opening Premier League fixture in midweek, likely on September 15 or 16.
With the 2020/21 calendar even more jam-packed than usual, players can now enjoy a small recovery period before facing another gruelling fixture pile-up.
United's campaign lasted 370 days, whilst City's went on even longer, at 376 days, because of the enforced break in the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both clubs will hand their players a two-week break, before returning in early September to begin their pre-season build-up.
