Why is Fulham vs Man City at 7.30pm? Unusual kick-off time explained

• Sport
• Football
• Manchester City FC

Manchester City are looking to build on their victory over Leeds United at Fulham on Tuesday night.

Manchester City's trip to Fulham on Tuesday night will see them kick off at the unusually early midweek time of 7.30pm. Midweek matches tend to kick off at 8pm, but this week sees some Premier League sides kick off half-an-hour earlier to avoid schedule clashes for Sky Sports.

This next round of games in the Premier League take place when the broadcaster has the rights to broadcast all of the matches and to gain the most viewers possible, kick-off times are being staggered.

This means ten matches in the Premier League will be played over Tuesday, December 2, Wednesday, December 3 and Thursday, December 4. City are first up on Tuesday at 7.30pm and their game will be played at the same time as Bournemouth vs Everton.

Then at 8.15pm, Newcastle will host Tottenham Hotspur. With the last train back to Manchester leaving London Euston at just after 10pm, there will be some happy to see the match start earlier.

However, the early kick-off time presents the problem for fans getting down to Craven Cottage in time for the game beginning due to work commitments and the rush hour traffic. When it comes to kick-off changes, the Premier League insists they take fans into account.

Addressing the topic recently, the Premier League stated they work with local authorities to announce changes around six weeks before fixture dates to allow fans time to make travel arrangements for matches. Should City beat Fulham, they will move to within two points of leaders Arsenal ahead of their game at home to Brentford on Wednesday.