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Football London
Football London
Sport
Robert Warlow

The reason for the unusual kick off times for Liverpool vs Arsenal and Chelsea vs Man United

Arsenal and Chelsea are both back in Carabao Cup action this evening (Wednesday).

The Gunners make the trip to Merseyside to take on Premier League leaders Liverpool in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.

The game is being shown live on Sky Sports, but it won't kick off at the traditional time for a midweek fixture.

Normally, midweek games shown live on television in England kick off at either 7.45pm or 8pm, but the clash between Liverpool and Arsenal is instead kicking off at 7.30pm.

That is because Sky Sports are showing two games live on television tonight, with Chelsea's fourth round tie against Manchester United also being broadcast.

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Sky have the rights to show two games in each round of the competition, and have picked the two clashes between the Premier League heavyweights.

But with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United all involved in Premier League games last Sunday, both games were scheduled for tonight to allow for sufficient recovery time for players between fixtures, with all three sides scheduled to play again on Saturday in the league.

As such, the kick off times for the two cup clashes this evening have been staggered, to allow fans to watch as much of both games as possible.

Therefore, Liverpool's game against Arsenal will kick off at 7.30pm, with Chelsea's clash with Manchester United starting at 8.05pm.

Both games could go straight to penalties, if the scores are level after 90 minutes, with no extra time in Carabao Cup fixtures this season, except the final.

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