Clearly, the SPFL does not know which sides will be in which half of the table at the start of the season when deciding who will have 16 home games and 17 away games prior to the split.
If you’ve had 17 home games, you would nominally expect to play two away after the split and vice versa. If you’ve had 16 at home, you’d expect three after the split.
Hearts, Rangers, Motherwell and Falkirk will have played 17 at home up to round 33. Celtic and Hibs will have played 16 at home.
But it’s not quite as straightforward as that. Given the need to even out home and away derbies and the stakes in the title race, it’s likely two of Hearts’ away games will be at Easter Road and Celtic Park while Rangers can expect to be away to Celtic and Hearts, having hosted those sides twice in the Premiership already this term.
However, Hearts have hosted Falkirk and Motherwell twice, which means one of those two sides might get a third league trip to Tynecastle.
As well as visits from Hearts and Rangers, Celtic will have a home meeting with either Hibs, Falkirk or Motherwell – three sides who have already visited Celtic Park twice this season.
Meanwhile Rangers will have hosted Hibs, Falkirk and Motherwell only once each but will only have two home post-split games. Similarly, Motherwell have hosted Falkirk, Hibs and Rangers twice each but can only expect two home games against that trio of teams.
If United get ahead of Falkirk, they too will create the same imbalance of home and away games as they, like the Bairns will have played 17 at home and 16 away come the split.
These are just some of the dilemmas the SPFL will have to resolve.
