Unlike the majority of Premier League teams, the current top two in Arsenal and Manchester City will not be playing domestic league fixtures this midweek.
The Gunners and the Cityzens were initially due to play each other on Wednesday, October 19, at the Emirates Stadium but the game was later postponed. That's because Arsenal's Europa League fixture with PSV Eindhoven - that was initially due to be played on September 15 - was rescheduled for this coming Thursday (October 20).
Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, all Premier League games that weekend were postponed as clubs paid respect to Her Majesty. Whilst many games in Europe went ahead the following week, Arsenal's game with PSV was consequently postponed due to a shortage of police resources in the capital in the build-up to the Queen's funeral.
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In order to accommodate the fixture being played before the final group stage matchday in November, the Europa League and Premier League came to an agreement to postpone the Gunners' game with City for another date. That fixture is yet to be rearranged, though as Arsenal already have a heavily congested fixture list ahead of the World Cup, it's not expected to be played until the new year at least.
Mikel Arteta's outfit have made their best start to a topflight season in their entire history, having won nine of their opening 10 league games. The clash with City would've been their toughest test to date and a good indicator as to whether they're genuine title contenders, but they'll have to wait to cross that bridge when it comes to it in the future.
Instead, they'll be fully focused on securing qualification for the next round of the Europa League with a win on Thursday evening.
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