Football
Why aren’t Arsenal playing this weekend? Decision explained as Gunners take short Premier League hiatus
Joe Lyons is a sports writer with years of experience on reputable sports and gambling websites. Joe has also been published by Nottingham Forest, working with the academy and senior teams to produce content on matchdays. He formerly covered the Premier League and EFL as an on-site reporter during the 2020/21 season for Prost International. He is an expert in a range of sports including soccer, basketball, horse racing and American football. Joe specialises in long form content alongside news, tips and betting. Joe has a keen eye for the sports betting industry in the USA which covers the NBA and NFL, tracking and analysing the market as it changes throughout the season.
Get to know Joe Lyons betterPublished23 Apr 2025
Arsenal won’t play a Premier League game this weekend ahead of next Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain – but why is this the case?
The Gunners hosted Crystal Palace in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, marking their last Premier League outing until the first weekend in May.
Why aren’t Arsenal playing this weekend?
Mikel Arteta’s side were originally due to face Palace this Saturday, April 26 – but due to the Eagles’ continued involvement in the FA Cup, the fixture was moved forward to Wednesday.
Palace face off against Aston Villa in the semi-final on Saturday evening, coming at a convenient time for the Gunners who will enjoy almost a full week of preparation before the first leg against PSG.
Arsenal won’t feature in the league this weekend, with their next domestic outing set for Saturday, May 3 at home to Bournemouth.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner was less than impressed with the decision as Villa played Manchester City on Tuesday night, handing their rivals an extra day of rest ahead of the Wembley showdown.
In a tight betting market, Arsenal are third-favourites to win the Champions League with PSG slightly favoured in the close match-up.
Arteta’s men made light work of the most successful side in competition history and defending champions Real Madrid in the quarter-final.
The Gunners are bidding to win a first Champions League title and if they can take advantage of home field in the opening leg, they could head to Paris the following week in good stead for a place in the Munich final.
Despite the bookmakers looking the other way, British sports analytics company Opta rank Arsenal as the tournament favourites with a 32% chance of winning compared to Inter and Barcelona at 23% apiece and PSG with 22%.