Overview
- Both clubs will have only one full day of rest after Premier League fixtures on December 21 before playing the tie at the Emirates.
- Crystal Palace’s Europa Conference League game on December 18 created the clash that made the original December 16 plan unworkable.
- Arsenal opposed moving the game, with Mikel Arteta calling a change not fair, while Oliver Glasner labelled the initial mid-December run dangerous.
- The other three quarter-finals remain on December 16–17, and the EFL considered but ruled out Christmas Eve due to transport and policing issues.
- In confirming the date, the EFL criticised UEFA’s expanded calendar as causing unavoidable conflicts, and Arteta said he expects the Premier League to rearrange Arsenal’s December 21 trip to Everton.