Aston Villa have complained about being forced to play back-to-back away games in quick succession in the Premier League, with a trip to Arsenal following their win over Chelsea
Unai Emery manager of Aston Villa
Unai Emery is unhappy with Aston Villa's fixture schedule(Image: Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
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Aston Villa have previously been given a full explanation concerning this season’s fixture sequencing, sources close to the Premier League say, after their boss Unai Emery questioned the schedule.
Villa visit Arsenal on Tuesday night in a second successive Premier League away game in London, having faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Saturday. Emery said on Monday he could not understand why his team would play the Gunners twice in the league before they had faced Nottingham Forest for a first time. Villa play Forest in a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.
The club’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, later posted on X that the midlands club had not been given a “clear explanation” for the scheduling, adding: “I asked EPL people and they didn’t tell us. So it is a mystery.”
However, sources close to the league have told the Press Association that Villa were given a full explanation around this issue when the 2025-26 calendar was released.
Premier League match scheduling and the home-away sequence are understood to be created in accordance with the fixture compilation rules which are approved by club representatives.
Vidagany went on to question why fixtures were more “convenient” for “certain clubs”, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United playing back-to-back home games in match rounds 18 and 19.
The Premier League is understood to have arranged festive fixtures so that if a team play at home in the Christmas round – matchweek 18 – they will be away in the New Year round – matchweek 20 – and vice-versa.
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins' brace saw Aston Villa come from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in their last game
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Villa only played Arsenal at home in the league on December 6, but quick reversals, when clubs play each other twice within a short period of time, have occurred in previous seasons and are incorporated when it is considered to provide a better overall home-and-away sequence.
The league also tries to ensure that clubs play home and away either side of FA Cup rounds and that clubs playing in Europe do not have away matches on both sides of a continental fixture. However, the expansion of European competitions has had a detrimental impact on the league’s ability to achieve this consistently.
Speaking about the issue in his pre-match press conference, Emery said: “It is the first time in my career as a coach, 20 years, that we are finishing the first part of the season not playing against 19 teams.
"We are playing 18 teams, with Arsenal two times. I don’t understand. I don’t know why. Normally we are playing tomorrow [on Tuesday] against Nottingham Forest to end the first part of the season. But, of course, I accept it.”
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