The Premier League season will arguably be reaching its climax on Saturday. The slate of games is highlighted by two of the biggest games in England – the Manchester Derby between City and United and the Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton.
NBC is pulling out all the stops for the double derby day. Their top play by play team of Arlo White and Lee Dixon will make the 35 mile trek from Goodison Park in Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in pulling double duty on Saturday. Hopefully there’s no traffic in the northwest of England because there’s only a three hour gap between the end of the first game and the beginning of the second game! Liverpool-Everton kicks off at 7:30 AM ET on NBCSN while City-United will begin at 12:30 PM ET on NBC.
The double duty for White and Dixon is just one of a couple different promotional efforts NBC is doing with their Premier League broadcasting team. The network will also be sending their studio analysts to England and their game analysts back to the states for a pundit exchange later this month in April.
https://twitter.com/NBCSportsSoccer/status/980151763964743681
It’s been all but a foregone conclusion for much of the season that Manchester City would lift the trophy and now the only question is a matter of when, not if. The fact that they can do it on Saturday against their arch-rival Manchester United will make what is traditionally one of the biggest games of the season that much more enticing.
In the Merseyside Derby, Liverpool can all but seal up a top four spot as they sit in third a full ten points ahead of fifth place Chelsea. Their battles with Everton are always some of the feistiest in the league.
On top of all the domestic stakes, Liverpool and Manchester City are also navigating their own Champions League quarterfinal matchup where Liverpool take a stunning 3-0 lead into the second leg this week.
With two of the biggest games in England happening so close to one another and a potential title clinching victory for City in the balance, this is a cool idea for NBC. Hopefully we’ll be able to follow along with the broadcasters’ travels throughout the day as they try to take on the challenge of calling two Premier League games in the space of one day.
[NBC]
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