Eagled-eyed fans of Premier League clubs will have spotted that their team is playing a club this midweek that they have already faced this season.
At the midway point in the campaign, each team will still have one opponent left that they have not met.
Aston Villa face league leaders Arsenal for a second time in the first half of the season, despite not yet facing Nottingham Forest.
It is something that has baffled Villa manager Unai Emery.
“It is the first time in my career as a coach, 20 years, we are finishing the first part of the season not playing 19 teams,” he said.
“I don’t know why. Only I am telling it because it is the only issue in my mind I am not understanding. But, of course, I accept it.”
Damian Vidagany, Aston Villa’s director of football, suggested there is a bias with fixture scheduling and called it “a mystery”.
“I asked the people and they didn’t tell us,” he said in a post on X. “So, it is a mystery. The fact is that willing, or not, this makes more convenient the fixtures for certain clubs that are not travelling on this very busy Christmas period.
“I let you take a look which clubs are playing home both last and next match. To make us play two away games in less than 72 hours will be never an excuse but we agree that is much better on the recovery side [to] play twice at home and not travel.
“We are not, for sure, as it is obvious, having any influence. It would be a disgrace if the fixtures become a political territory,” he added.
Premier League sides will instead play the remaining team that they have not faced at the weekend in round 20.
The league does this type of scheduling to create a better overall home and away sequence of fixtures across the season.
The Premier League also stays in regular contact with clubs regarding scheduling and it also helps satisfy various date requests that clubs may have.
Quick reversals of fixtures have occurred in previous seasons. For example, in 2021-22, Villa played away at Chelsea in round four and faced the Blues again at home in round 19.
There is no rule against this in the Premier League’s competition rules, but the league does always aim to ensure that if a team is not at home on Boxing Day, they will never be away on New Year’s Day.
The fixture list is drawn up once the playing dates of the competition and international competitions are known.
Fan representatives, clubs, stakeholders and authorities are all consulted to see if there are any dates they wish games not to take place on.
For example, Manchester United may ask not to play at home in August when a Test cricket match is being played at the same time at Old Trafford cricket ground.
Clubs can also request not to play certain teams on Boxing Day. The Premier League aims to minimise travel distance for away teams on 26 December and 1 January.
