Why Man City vs Leeds is being shown live on TV despite 3pm blackout rule

Manchester City continue their Premier League title push this weekend when they welcome Leeds United to the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal's midweek win over Chelsea pushed Pep Guardiola's side down to second but City responded with a victory over West Ham to reclaim top spot. They led the Gunners by a point with a game in hand and can extend their lead to four points with a win on Saturday. Arsenal visit Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon.

City's weekend game will be Sam Allardyce's first as Leeds boss with the Whites having sacked Javi Gracia and appointed the former Bolton and West Ham manager in his place. The Elland Road side are out of the bottom three on goal difference and have four games to try and preserve their top flight status.

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City will be overwhelming favourites given their astonishing winning run as they continue to chase down an historic treble. And their Champions League commitments are partly why fans will be able to watch the game with Leeds live on TV despite it kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

That slot is protected from live TV by blackout regulations in a bid to encourage supporters to watch games in person rather than on the box. The rule has been in place since the 1960s but is not being applied this weekend. Originally the game was down to take place on Sunday at 2pm and be shown live on Sky Sports.

City's progress to the last four of the Champions League means they face Real Madrid on Tuesday and so the league game had to be moved. With the coronation of King Charles III taking place on Saturday, the two regular TV slots at 12.30pm and 5.30pm were ruled out to avoid a clash and because of a lack of police