Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has expressed his hope of seeing teams going for the Premier League title play at the same hour and on the same date as they approach the business end of the season.
The Pensioners, who are closing in on winning the league title, will play Everton at 14.05 BST on Sunday, while their title rivals Tottenham Hotspur are set to play Arsenal at 16.30.
That means that Mauricio Pochettino's team will know about the result of the Chelsea game before taking to the field against the Gunners, which could put extra pressure on their shoulders.
The Chelsea manager insists that his team will be devoid of any advantage while playing ahead of Tottenham and also took time to stress the need to have parity in terms of the fixtures going into the most critical stage of the season.
"It's not an advantage [to play before Tottenham]", Conte said at a pre-match press conference.
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"At the end of the season, I think that when you have two teams in the race, in contention for the title you must have a good balance to try to put the fixtures in the same hour, on the same days, and don't give advantage to one team or another.
“When you arrive at the last three games, when you see there are two or three teams very close to fight for the title, you have to find a solution not to give advantage for one team or another.
"Try and keep it the same hour, the same days to rest.”
Chelsea have five matches left in the season, three of which they will play at home with the other two, including Sunday's game, will be played away from home.
