Given that each side plays each other twice (home and away), every team in the Premier League plays a total of 38 league fixtures in a single season, 19 at home and 19 away from home.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore initially said there would not be more than one international round per season, stating "I stress that on my watch, there will be no 40th game. The value [of a 39th game] is in its uniqueness, in that festival weekend, so there's no point in diluting it".