Chelsea vs Man United kick-off time finally confirmed after fans left fuming by delay

The two teams were originally scheduled to square off a day later, but the match has had to be moved due to the Blues' participation in the Champions League.

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With Chelsea to face Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday, October 25, the Premier League have finally moved the fixture after a lengthy delay, which left supporters fuming over a lack of communication.

Away tickets for United fans proved to be the hold up with the Metropolitan Police pushing for their allocation of 2,994 away tickets to be cut to 1,500.

But United opposed the huge reduction, as they eventually agreed to an allocation of 2,370.

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A Premier League statement read: "The delay in confirming a kick-off time was due to issues related to the away ticket allocation for Manchester United supporters.

"The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK."

United have expressed their frustration that their original allocation has been cut by over 600 in a letter sent to club fans.

The Chelsea Supporters' Trust also released a statement, voicing their own frustrations over the late timing of the announcement and backing United over their outrage over tickets.

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A statement from Manchester United said: "The announcement follows consultation between United, the Premier League and Chelsea after the Metropolitan Police proposed a reduction in our away allocation due to policing concerns.

"The police initially sought to cut our allocation from 2,994 to 1,500.

"We have strongly opposed any reduction and worked with Chelsea to present a range of mitigations to the local Safety Advisory Group, which we believe could have allowed the game to proceed safely with our full allocation of fans.

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"Unfortunately, the police have continued to insist on a reduction. However, we have succeeded in increasing the allocation to 2,370.

"While we are very disappointed by this outcome and believe it is unjustified, it is clear it is a final decision.

"We are now urgently considering options for how to manage the removal of 624 tickets from the original allocation which had already been agreed with Chelsea and sold.

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"We will send further communications to supporters on Monday, outlining our approach. In the meantime, we strongly advise against booking travel.

"Everyone at Manchester United shares the inevitable disappointment and frustration about both the reduced allocation, and the long delay in confirming arrangements for this game.

"Over recent years, we have made significant progress in protecting away ticket allocations for our fans and we can assure you that we will continue to fight for this in future."

As it stands in the table, Chelsea sit a point and a place above United with both teams playing seven out of the eight opening matches in the top-flight.