Arsenal’s match against Manchester City has been postponed to make room for their rescheduled clash with PSV Eindhoven.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 21: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City bumps fists with Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal after the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on February 21, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City bumps fists with Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal after the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on February 21, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The Premier League have confirmed that Arsenal’s match against Manchester City has been postponed to make room for the rescheduled clash with PSV, which will now take place on Thursday, October 20th, at 18:00.

In his pre-Champions League match press conference, Pep Guardiola hinted at the postponement, bringing up the match unprompted.

“I don’t know if the Arsenal game will be played now,” Guardiola told reporters.

The uncertainty came from discussions around how to reschedule Arsenal’s postponed Europa League fixture against PSV Eindhoven, initially due to take place this Thursday.

Arsenal needed to find a way to schedule the game before December 31st, or they faced an automatic forfeit. But with the World Cup in November-December, there weren’t many opportunities to pencil it in.

The October 19th midweek always looked like the best opportunity to schedule the game with PSV. But that meant moving the City game.

PSV Eindhoven's German defender Philipp Max, Dutch forward Cody Gakpo and Mexican midfielder Erick Gutierrez celebrate their team's first goal during the Dutch Eredivisie football match between Feyenoord and PSV at Feyenoord Stadium de Kuip in Rotterdam on May 8, 2022. (Photo by MAURICE VAN STEEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
PSV Eindhoven’s German defender Philipp Max, Dutch forward Cody Gakpo and Mexican midfielder Erick Gutierrez celebrate their team’s first goal during the Dutch Eredivisie football match between Feyenoord and PSV at Feyenoord Stadium de Kuip in Rotterdam on May 8, 2022. (Photo by MAURICE VAN STEEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

The BBC’s Simon Stone reported that Arsenal forfeiting the tie was always thought to be an extremely unlikely outcome. It’s not like Spurs’ situation last year, for example, when they only had a couple of weeks to reschedule the game.

Even with all the fixture congestion, Arsenal had more than three months to sort this match out, so the chances they could find a solution were much higher. Thankfully, they’ve now done so.