In one of the most expected games of the season, Arsenal and Manchester City were supposed to face off on Matchday 12 in the 2022-2023 Premier League. However, this new episode of the rivalry has been postponed. When the season's calendar came out, the Gunners and the Citizens were programmed to play on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at Emirates Stadium in London. That officially won't happen and here you can find the important reasons why.
Arsenal are the greatest surprise of this Premier League. After a tough road win against Leeds, the Gunners are still atop of the table with impressive numbers: 9 victories in 10 matches for 27 points. Mikel Arteta's team is on a seven-game winning streak in all competitions and have their best start in a season since 1903.
Manchester City had their first loss of the season last weekend at Liverpool (1-0). As a result, Pep Guardiola's team now trails Arsenal by four points in the race for first place. Still, Erling Haaland is having an amazing campaign as the Citizens' newest addition with 15 goals scored in the Premier League.
Why was the Arsenal vs Manchester City match postponed?
Arsenal and Manchester City will not play on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, because UEFA had to rearrange the Gunners' Europa League match against PSV Eindhoven. That game was scheduled to be played on September 15, but it was postponed due to the official protocol after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Since there were not enough policemen available for both events, the Arsenal-PSV game had to be postponed to guarantee the proper security measures in London. As a consequence, UEFA asked the Premier League for a possible date and both agreed on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
Considering this scenario, the long awaited match between Arsenal and Manchester City will have a new date which has not yet been announced. UEFA thanked all the parts involved for making the change possible in a very complicated calendar: "UEFA announced that the UEFA Europa League tie between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven, originally scheduled to be played on Thursday 15 September, will now be played on Thursday 20 October at 19:00 CEST (18:00 local time). The rescheduling of this match was possible after the decision of the Premier League to postpone the domestic match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC originally due to be played on October 19. UEFA would like to thank the Premier League and the clubs concerned for their flexibility and cooperation in the rescheduling of the UEFA Europa League match which had been postponed due to the impossibility for local police forces to guarantee its secure staging."
