According to the Evening Standard, our Europa League showdown with Vitoria in November could be returned to a Thursday evening kick-off after an appeal to local authorities by the Portuguese side.

Europa League matches traditionally take place on Thursday but with local sides Braga and Porto both in the competition, UEFA at the request of the Portuguese police determined that the lower-ranked Vitoria should bring all their home games forward a day so not to put undue pressure on local infrastructure.

Their home game with the Gunners was subsequently pencilled in for Wednesday afternoon at 4.50pm (local time) so that it didn’t clash with the early kick-offs in the Champions League.

Given an afternoon kick-off is a pain in the hole for their supporters (let alone three), Vitoria have argued that two sides from within 50km of each other playing at the same time on a Thursday is not likely to cause much stress. It’s a fair point.

Of course, for any eager Gooners who’ve already planned and booked their trip to Portugal a switch at this point could prove problematic and costly.

It’s worth pointing out that the UEFA website says the game is taking place on 6th November, while the Arsenal website still indicates the match could be played on either the 6th or 7th of November.

If we hear anything more, we’ll let you know.

Update – Arsenal have released a statement confirming that a date for the fixture has yet to be set.