West Ham v Chelsea on a school night. What could possibly go wrong?
Luckily for English football’s higher-ups, there was something of a trial run when the two teams met in the third round of the EFL Cup.
That game passed without incident for the most part, but there was significant trouble towards the end of the game, which marred proceedings.
Enough to convince the Premier League to ensure the next meeting between the clubs at the London Stadium should take place on a weekend afternoon, you might think.
Wrong.
As confirmed by West Ham, the fixture has been moved from March 4 to March 6, and will kick off at 8pm.
While the reverse fixture – also on a Monday night – passed with no trouble, some fans and observers are still unconvinced that the decision to move the game is the right one.
https://twitter.com/stainton153/status/824295618084564992
After what happened in EFL Cup tie, it's ridiculous that TV have been allowed to move #whufc v #cfc to a Monday night kick-off. Round 2?! https://t.co/tcK8Ca3Cyw
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) January 25, 2017
Great idea moving West Ham/Chelsea to a Monday night after what happened last time!!!! @SkyFootball
— Stevie Berry 🍰 (@SteveOJ82) January 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/oliver_todd/status/824271546898415618
The hosts will hope to make it three home wins on the bounce against Chelsea, after defeating them 2-1 in the cup and by the same scoreline in the Premier League last season.
Mauro Zárate and Andy Carroll scored West Ham’s goals that day, while the Blues had Nemanja Matić and then-manager José Mourinho sent off.
