Arsenal’s Europa League game against PSV has been postponed by UEFA ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London with the match get be rearranged in due course
PSV have confirmed that their trip to Arsenal on Thursday night has been postponed.
The Dutch side were scheduled to travel to the Emirates Stadium for the second round of Europa League matches, but the club have confirmed that it will not be going ahead. This is due to a lack of police presence in London ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral next week.
In a statement on the PSV website, it read: “The Arsenal – PSV match is still postponed. UEFA reported this to PSV on Monday afternoon. Last weekend it seemed that the game would be played next Thursday, but the national authorities in Great Britain have decided that insufficient deployment of police personnel is possible due to the funeral services of the British Queen Elizabeth in London.
“It is not yet known when the Europa League match will be made up. More information about this will follow. We will keep supporters who have bought a ticket for the match personally informed of developments by e-mail.”
UEFA also confirmed the news by saying: “UEFA confirm @Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven is postponed ‘with a new date to be communicated in due course’. Is due to severe limitations on police resources + organisational issues related to the ongoing events surrounding the national mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
This means the Gunners are unlikely to play again before the international break, with Arsenal set to travel to Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday. However, with the funeral occurring a day later on September 19, it is looking unlikely that the game at the Brentford Community Stadium will go ahead.
Arsenal were last in action on Thursday when they beat FC Zurich 2-1 thanks to goals either side of half-time from Marquinhos and Eddie Nketiah. It was a crucial win for Mikel Arteta’s side, who bounced back superbly from their 3-1 defeat at Manchester United – which was their first defeat of the season.
In the other game of the group, PSV came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Bodo/Glimt as Arsenal target Cody Gakpo struck the equaliser for the Dutch team. This means Arsenal sit top of the group, before Bodo/Glimt host FC Zurich this week with the Gunners’ clash with PSV now postponed.
Arsenal are now supposed to be in action against Brentford. However, this isn’t the only London-based fixture that is expected to be called off, with Chelsea’s clash against Liverpool firmly in doubt. Premier League clubs undertook meetings on Monday morning to discuss the upcoming round of fixtures to determine if they can go ahead days before the Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey at 11am on Monday.
But Mirror Football understands that Chelsea’s chances of fulfilling their fixture are looking increasingly slim, with moving the game elsewhere also full of problems. Some 10,000 police officers are set to be deployed in London over the weekend to ensure safety at events planned during the 10-day mourning period for the Queen and to celebrate the accession of King Charles III. Those demands will push an already overstretched police force to the brink and mean high-profile football matches could be postponed.
