Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur will face a very different lead-up to the north London derby in April, with the fixture list now confirmed.

Following the completion of the last round of Champions League, FA Cup, Europa League, and Europa Conference League fixtures, the Premier League have now confirmed plans for their April fixture list.

Arsenal’s April schedule is looking hectic. After the Manchester City game on March 31st, the Gunners face the following run:

• April 3rd, 19:30 – Arsenal vs Luton Town – PL
• April 6th, 17:30 – Brighton vs Arsenal – PL
• April 9th, 20:00 – Arsenal vs Bayern – CL
• April 14th, 16:30 – Arsenal vs Aston Villa – PL
• April 17th, 20:00 – Bayern vs Arsenal – CL
• April 20th, 19:30 – Wolves vs Arsenal – PL
• April 23rd, 20:00 – Arsenal vs Chelsea – PL
• April 28th, 14:00 – Spurs vs Arsenal – PL

All times in GMT

The fixture list will get even worse if Arsenal make the Champions League semi-final, with that game due to take place on April 30th or May 1st. If it’s April 30th, the Spurs game will be moved to April 27th.

Even if it’s May 1st, Arsenal would have eight games in a month with two extra games on the last and first days of the two surrounding months.

By contrast, here is Spurs’ fixture list for April as it stands:

• April 2nd, 20:15 – West Ham vs Spurs – PL
• April 8th, 20:00 – Spurs vs Nottingham Forest – PL
• April 13th, 12:30 – Newcastle vs Spurs – PL
• April 28th, 14:00 – Spurs vs Arsenal – PL

From April 14th to the end of the month, Arsenal will play five games to Spurs’ one.

The crux of the problem comes from the fact that Chelsea and Manchester City are playing each other in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Spurs’ postponed fixtures are against Chelsea and Manchester City, so neither game can be scheduled for the weekend of that semi-final.

Yet it’s strange that the Spurs-City fixture didn’t end up in the midweek before the north London derby. The Premier League had that option, and they opted instead to schedule City’s postponed game against Brighton in that slot.

As a result, City get an easier fixture in their busy schedule, and Spurs get some more time off ahead of the Arsenal game.

Quite why the Premier League opt to make decisions that seem to give one team a competitive disadvantage is unclear, and the Mirror report that there are people at various clubs asking that very question of the latest fixture dates.

In this case, you’d put money on the theory that Sky Sports drove the decision, preferring to save the Spurs-City game for their May TV schedule.

Officially, the league claim they just opted to schedule in the games that were postponed first, even though it leaves Spurs with an unnecessary 15-day break.

If that’s the policy, it’s a policy that needs changing.