England boss Roy Hodgson's worst fears were confirmed when it emerged that many of his star players will be in action on the Sunday before the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.
The release of the schedule for televised Barclays Premier League matches revealed that Liverpool v Manchester United and Arsenal v Tottenham will be screened live by Sky Sports on Sunday September 1, five days before Hodgson's men embark upon their vital double-header.
Both Chelsea and Arsenal will be in action on Sunday, October 6, the former at Norwich and the latter at West Brom, with England due to face Montenegro on the following Friday and Poland four days after that.
Should the national team be involved in the play-offs the following month, Tottenham host Newcastle, Manchester City visit Sunderland and Manchester United and Arsenal meet at Old Trafford on Sunday, November 10 with the two-legged ties scheduled for November 15 and 19.
Elsewhere, Sky Sports will be at Swansea's Liberty Stadium on the opening day of the season to witness David Moyes' first league game as Manchester United manager, and will also be there as Jose Mourinho walks back into the Stamford Bridge dug-out for Chelsea's home clash with Hull the following day.
Their first Monday night game is Manuel Pellegrini's competitive debut as Manchester City boss, against Newcastle on August 19.
Sky's first big-four showdown will see United face Chelsea at Old Trafford on Monday, August 26, and they will be at Anfield for United's visit the following Sunday, the same day as the first north London derby of the campaign at Arsenal.
The Manchester derby will be shown live from the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, September 22, as will the north-east shoot-out between Sunderland and Newcastle at the Stadium of Light on October 27.
Arsenal v Liverpool gets the following month's coverage under way on Saturday, November 2, a day before the south Wales derby clash between Cardiff and Swansea, and Manchester United and Arsenal meet on Sunday, November 10.
Newcomer BT Sport kicks off its coverage with Liverpool v Stoke on the opening day, Saturday, August 17, in a 12.45pm kick-off and will show promoted Crystal Palace's trip to Manchester United on Saturday, September 14. They have the Merseyside derby from Goodison Park on November 23 and Tottenham v Manchester United the following weekend.
Source: PA
