Do Not Sell My Personal Information
How the Premier League fixtures are decided
Every year, top-flight clubs eagerly await a brand-new set of fixtures from the Premier League, as the upcoming campaign is mapped out.
But unlike other competitions, compiling the fixture list is not as simple as drawing teams out of a hat. On the contrary, it is indeed so complex that a computer is required to satisfy all of the requirements for a functioning calendar.
So what kind of things does the Premier League have to consider, and how exactly are the fixtures put together?
When are the Premier League fixtures released?
Premier League fixtures are usually announced in mid-June. The 2025/26 fixtures are revealed at 9am on 18th June 2025.
Here are a few of the factors fed into the Premier League’s supercomputer each year…
Premier League dates are finalised
According to the Premier League, the first things to take into account are the dates of the concurrent competitions. This is to avoid clashes with European tournaments and the schedules for the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Once these have been set in place, the remaining weekend and midweek slots for Premier League football can be determined.
Stadium clashes are avoided
The Premier League allows its clubs to make requests to play away from home on certain dates due to other events at their stadiums.
For example, Tottenham Hotspur will host two NFL matches in October 2025, with one of those games falling inside the international break. However, their match on 5th October will have to be played away from home to avoid a clash.
Meanwhile, several Premier League clubs host Women’s Super League matches on weekends, with Arsenal committing to staging all 11 of their home games at the Emirates Stadium in 2025/26. However, this doesn’t necessarily cause too much hassle, given games can simply be played while the men have an away match.
Local rivals do not play at home simultaneously
The Premier League also prohibits two teams situated close to each other from playing at home on the same weekend, meaning that each pair will play home and away in each round of fixtures.
The 2025/26 season will have five of such pairings, which will allow for sufficient police numbers to be allocated to the event.
Premier League clubs with alternate home and away fixtures
- Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur
- Chelsea and Fulham
- Everton and Liverpool
- Manchester City and Manchester United
- Newcastle United and Sunderland
Home and away matches are split evenly
This may seem like an obvious one, with each side facing 19 home and away each. However, a number of scenarios are avoided by virtue of when and how often teams play home or away.
Whilst satisfying all the other factors, the supercomputer will aim to ensure that teams alternate between home and away matches wherever possible, while they will never have two or three in succession. Of course, this may be a possibility once fixtures get rearranged during the season.
The computer will also attempt to ensure this does not occur as a result of FA Cup matches, which take place from January for Premier League clubs.
There is also a rule whereby teams are guaranteed alternate home and away fixtures in between the Boxing Day fixtures and the following round of games. The Premier League also states that fan travel is deliberately minimised across this period, so you can expect some London derbies over Christmas.
As ever with football fixtures, they are always subject to change, with TV picks altering dates and kick-off times. The Premier League sets deadlines for these changes to take place, but these are not always kept to by those in charge.
