Tradition kicked into touch

English soccer will have a distinctly unfamiliar look about it this weekend when just one match in the top flight kicks off at the traditional time of three o'clock (4 p.m. Malta time) on a Saturday afternoon.

The only Premier League match starting then is the game between Aston Villa and West Ham United at Villa Park.

Just one other game is being played tomorrow when champions Manchester United host Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford in an early kickoff (1.45 p.m.), with United looking to go top of the table with a victory.

The other eight games are all on Sunday afternoon including the match between league leaders Arsenal and Roy Keane's Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium.

Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, defended this weekend's timetable in an article in Wednesday's Guardian.

"We are mindful of the traditions that make English football what it is, and the match-going fan is central to that, as is keeping a decent number of matches at the traditional Saturday 3 p.m. slot, but fans need to appreciate that the Premier League does not operate in a bubble," he wrote.

"This weekend's fixtures are an anomaly. Out of the 10 matches only three have been displaced ostensibly for television, and of those, only two to the Sunday.

"The remaining six have been moved due to participation in the UEFA Cup (Blackburn, Bolton, Everton and Tottenham), transport issues (Arsenal), and a combination of the police and UEFA (Manchester City). It is a set of circumstances we do not envisage happening again."

United face Wigan having won four of their last five league matches 1-0 with a 2-0 win over Chelsea the only time in 11 matches this season in which they have scored more than once.

United have climbed from 16th to second as a result of those victories and should be too strong for a Wigan side that have taken just two points out of a possible 15 from their last five games.

United, who were 1-0 winners over Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, beat Wigan 3-1 home and away last season and it will be a major surprise if Wigan avoid defeat again.

Arsenal lead the table with 19 points from seven games, followed by United on 17 points and Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City on 16, both after eight games.

Arsenal's 1-0 Champions League victory at Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday was their 11th win in 12 unbeaten matches in all competitions this season.

Early comparisons are being drawn between Arsene Wenger's new team and his side of "Invincibles" who were unbeaten on their way to the league title in 2003-04.

Sunderland have not won a league match at Arsenal for almost 24 years and it would be as big a surprise as Wigan winning at Old Trafford if Keane's men were to take three points from the Emirates on Sunday.

In other games, Manchester City are at home to Middlesbrough, Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea are at struggling Bolton.