The Friday night before Christmas has emerged as a serious option for Liverpool’s trip to Arsenal following the backlash against an initial proposal to play the game late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

Talks are continuing between the two clubs, Islington Council, the Metropolitan Police and Sky Sports over how best to maximise exposure for the outstanding fixture of the pre-Christmas schedule and the desire of the two clubs to minimise festive disruptions for their fans and staff.

Suggestions to broadcast a first Christmas Eve match since 1995 at 4pm were soon derailed amid stadium safety concerns over the reluctance of stewards to staff the game and a promise to fans by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore that the match would not start that late.

Sky Sports intend to announce their televised fixtures by the end of the week and a range of options were still being discussed today. These included a 12noon or 12.30pm kick-off on Christmas Eve and Saturday lunchtime, but the idea of Friday 22 December has now also gained momentum.

It would give the match a prime evening slot just before Christmas and would probably also appeal to both clubs from a football perspective as it would give their players more recovery time ahead of their Boxing Day matches. Liverpool’s fans, however, would still face the travel difficult of getting back to Merseyside late on a Friday night.