Liverpool's Premier League trip to Aston Villa has been brought forward a month following the league leaders' EFL Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
A devastating performance from the competition favourites saw them come from 1-0 down in the first leg to beat Spurs 4-1 on aggregate, thanks to an emphatic win this evening.
Goals from in-form duo Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah set them on their way, before Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk made absolutely sure of their spot in the final.
With Arne Slot's men still fighting on four fronts following their routine progression in both domestic cup competitions and the Champions League, their schedule is unlikely to be free very often from now until the end of the season, meaning the Premier League have been proactive in making amendments to the fixture list.
The Reds were set to go to Villa Park for a lunchtime kickoff on Saturday March 15, but they will now instead make their way up Wembley Way to face Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final that weekend.
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Date announced for Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
Given the possibility that Liverpool could be playing Champions League and FA Cup matches throughout the season, the decision has been made to bring the Villa fixture forward.
The match will now be played at 7:30pm on Wednesday February 19, on the same night as the second leg of the Champions League playoffs, with Aston Villa's progression directly to the last 16 of the UCL along with Liverpool proving useful for the schedule setters.
The Premier League have already had a tough task at sorting out Liverpool's league fixtures this season, with them set to go far in all cup competitions this season.
After the postponement of the Merseyside derby against Everton back in early December, the Premier League must have been hoping that Liverpool would not require to go through the Champions League playoffs, in order to find a slot for that game to go into.
Following six wins in six in the League Phase, though, the Premier League decided to rearrange the derby for February 12, the week of the playoff first legs in the Champions League, despite Liverpool not yet mathematically confirming their passage into the last 16.
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What could this rearrangement mean for the title race?
Liverpool have now been sat with a game in hand for over two months, after the postponement of the Everton clash, but they will soon be one game ahead of their title challengers.
Playing on back-to-back Wednesdays could see Liverpool stretch their lead handsomely, despite playing a game more, without Arsenal even kicking a ball in the league.
Slot's side will now play three Premier League games in the space of seven days, while the Gunners will play only once, meaning the lead at the top could go from six points to 12 in the blink of an eye, if Liverpool capitalise.
In between those two rearranged fixtures, Liverpool and Arsenal will both face relegation-threatened sides in Wolves and Leicester City, in what will be must-win games for both.
Andrew Delaney
