English Premier League

Do early starts result in more boring games? Are midweek ties 'under lights' really more exciting? And when does your club like to play?

Wolves are unbeaten in their five games at that time (2.20 PPG). Early weekend slots have been better: they have won their only game on Saturday at 12.30pm (against Liverpool) while in Sunday 2pm games they have averaged 1.75 PPG from four matches. The 4.30pm Sunday slot, however, has been a graveyard: they have not won any of their six matches, picking up two points and averaging 0.33 PPG. Don’t go too early, though: they have been miserable in 12pm kick-offs, losing five of their six games and averaging just 0.5 PPG. It is rare that a team has never lost at a certain time when playing more than a handful of times, but Manchester City will be wishing they had a few 6pm games to play as they look to claw back Arsenal in the title race. [Brighton](https://theathletic.com/football/team/brighton-and-hove-albion/), as it was this slot which gave the club its best PPG record (two points from their five games). They are not so good at another quirky kick-off time, the 2.05pm slot: here, they have recorded three defeats in five and an average of only 0.8 PPG. Fulham’s best PPG average is only one point in the 2pm Super Sunday and the 7.45pm slots, summing up their survival attempts before this season. Chelsea are a regular in the 4.30pm Sunday slot because of European commitments and being a ‘top six’ club, but their record is so-so, with just seven wins from 22 matches and an average of 1.36 PPG. They have only kicked off on five occasions at that time but they have won four of them, at 2.4 PPG. Palace are less likely to be involved in fixture rearrangements, and naturally will have a lower points-per-game total as they have usually been in mid-table. And overall, both have strong records, as you might expect from teams of their pedigree: City average 2.38 points per game (PPG) while Liverpool win 1.77 PPG, the third-best record in the top flight.