Why is Liverpool vs Aston Villa being played at 8pm on Saturday?

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrating after scoring the second goal against Bologna in the Champions League.
Liverpool's Mo Salah (Image credit: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool host Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday evening in the rarely seen kick off time of 8pm, despite the game being broadcast by TNT Sports.

In what is set to be a real test of Liverpool's Premier League title credentials, Aston Villa arrive at Anfield off the back of four straight defeats and in desperate need of a win. Unai Emery is a mastermind coach, though, and has the ability to upset Arne Slot's side, live on TV.

TNT Sports' regular slot in the Premier League weekend is 12.30pm on Saturday, though, so why is Liverpool vs Aston Villa being played at 8pm on Saturday? FourFourTwo details everything you need to know below.

Why is Liverpool vs Aston Villa being played at 8pm on Saturday?

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 05: Luis Diaz of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Anfield on November 05, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Liverpool's Luis Diaz celebrates (Image credit: Getty Images)

Because Aston Villa played away at Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, the game versus Liverpool has had to be pushed back to 8pm on Saturday evening.

Premier League sides agreed ahead of the 2021/22 season that teams playing in Europe on Wednesday evening wouldn't then have a match in the Premier League at lunchtime on Saturday.

BRUGES, BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 6: Boubacar Kamara of Aston Villa FC looks dejected after conceding the team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Club Brugge KV and Aston Villa FC at Jan Breydelstadion on November 6, 2024 in Bruges, Belgium. (Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

Villa lost to Club Brugge in midweek (Image credit: Getty Images)

That has since been revised to cover teams only playing away in the Champions League, hence why Liverpool played Crystal Palace at 12.30pm on October 5 after hosting Bologna in the Champions League on the Wednesday before.

As a result, TNT Sports had to find a solution to continue to broadcast Liverpool vs Aston Villa, without taking up any of the other weekend slots already occupied by Sky Sports.

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Indeed, Sky Sports are showing Brighton vs Manchester City at 5.30pm on Saturday, and then on Sunday Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle at 2pm and Chelsea vs Arsenal at 4.30pm.

Supporters can watch Premier League football from anywhere in the world.

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.