West Ham United’s opening two 2020/21 Premier League fixtures have been moved for live television coverage..
The season opener at home to Newcastle United will now be played on Saturday 12 September at 8pm, while the first away game at Arsenal will now take place at Emirates Stadium on Saturday 19 September at 8pm. Both fixtures will be broadcast live in the UK by Sky Sports.
Both matches will be played without supporters present, in line with Government guidelines and social distancing measures still in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Moyes’ squad will be seeking to pick up where they left off at the end of last season, when the Irons closed on a run of just one defeat in their final seven Premier League matches.
One of those games was an entertaining 2-2 draw at Newcastle, where July’s Premier League Player of the Month Michail Antonio and summer signing Tomas Soucek were both on target.
The Club will be publishing a 116-page Official Programme for Saturday’s fixture, which will be available to buy in print format for just £3.50, or to download free of charge on matchday.
Clubs agreed at a Premier League Shareholders’ meeting held on Tuesday that all 28 matches scheduled to be played in September will be broadcast live in the UK, via the League’s existing broadcasting partners Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC.
The Premier League is also in discussions with BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT to agree a similar solution for radio.
In consultation with all relevant stakeholders, the Premier League is considering appropriate arrangements for matches which will take place after 1 October.
The Premier League is working on a step-by-step approach, while monitoring the developments regarding the League’s number one priority of getting fans back into full stadia as soon as possible, with safety always being the priority.
