Yes of course you have to play every team twice, but when you play them makes a difference, sometimes a huge difference. For example you can face teams in the middle of a good run with confidence up, or in the middle of a bad run with confidence down.
There are also these factors in the teams you face:
Teams at the beginning of the season after a World/European Cup during which with their players went deep
Newly promoted teams at the beginning of the season
Having a week to prepare against a team that played away in Europe mid week, or involved in extended Cup run
Key opposition players injured or recovered or indeed suspended for a red card in a previous game that had nothing to do with you.
New manager bounce
Team with African players during the African nations
I reckon the above can easily be worth a goal for or against you. Of course there are those that argue it evens out over the course of a season but I have always found that you get lucky seasons and unlucky seasons. The year Leicester won the League literally every fixture fell perfectly for them. Whereas on the other hand we seem to have been dealt a particularly unlucky hand so far this season.
What other factors of the fixture list are there?
