Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest meet on Saturday afternoon with four and two points respectively separating them from the play-off places.
That gap could be extended, however, by the time the teams kick-off as Brighton & Hove Albion (at home to Yeovil on Friday night) and Ipswich Town (away to Burnley on Saturday lunchtime) will have played their penultimate games of the season.
Cherries manager Eddie Howe, speaking to the Bournemouth Daily Echo, said: "Hopefully, common sense will prevail and in the future around the business end of the season all games are played at the same time because you don’t want to see any advantages or disadvantages for anybody."