Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final scheduled on same day and time as Chelsea vs Manchester United

The two matches’ kickoff times are just 10 minutes apart

The Football Association announced on Thursday that the FA Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Reading is set to be played on April 18. The match will be played parallelly with the high-profile Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge which is set to start around the same time.

The FA scheduled the first semi-final between the Gunners and Steve Clarke’s Reading side at Wembley at 5.20 PM GMT on Saturday, April 18. At 5:30 PM on the same day, Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United side will kickoff in London against current league leaders Chelsea in a Premier League evening kick-off.

The second semi-final of the FA Cup will be held on Sunday, April 19 at 3 pm GMT. The match will feature Aston Villa who will take on the winner of the Blackburn vs Liverpool quarter-final replay.

Arsenal, Reading and Aston Villa have all been allocated 31,500 tickets for the semi-finals with further details expected to be released following the Blackburn-Liverpool match on April 8.