Which tense?' Time the team plays' vs 'time the team's playing'

[Simon26]

Hiy,

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given.

This will be the team's first match in the Premiere League.
time
This will be the first .... in the Premier League.

I actually know the answer but I can see more possibilities and the right answer is not understandable to me.

The key of the book I got the task from is:
time the team has played

I woud use:
time the team plays
or even:
time the team's playing

Please explain to me why the key answer is correct.

Cheers,
Simon

[Alan]

Hi,

'time has played' is rather like splitting the sentence in two: This is the first time that the team will have played. In the answer given, the future is in the introductory sentence 'will be' and the present perfect is with 'have played'.

Alan
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