September 11: The Premier League has brought back its traditional Boxing Day schedule for the 2026-27 season, following a reduced festive schedule last season.
A year ago, Manchester United v Newcastle was the only top-flight fixture on Boxing Day, a break forced by the scheduling complexities surrounding the league’s obligation to stage 33 rounds of matches on weekends. This time there are seven games on Saturday 26 December and the other three on Sunday 27 December.
New Year’s Day seems unusually quiet, though. Falling on a Friday, it only holds one game, Leeds v Everton, with the remaining nine spread over Saturday 2nd January and Sunday 3rd January.
Boxing Day opens with Aston Villa hosting Leeds at 12.30pm, followed by four kick-offs at 3pm, then Liverpool at Hull at 5.30pm and Newcastle v Manchester City at 8pm. The following day sees Chelsea at Coventry, Manchester United host Nottingham Forest and Arsenal at Crystal Palace.
The broadcast selections came earlier than usual, even before the November election, under an agreement between the league and its partners. This “gives fans more than three months’ notice to plan and arrange travel,” the league said, following consultation with the Football Supporters’ Association and Fan Advisory Councils.
The teams play again on December 29 or 30, with all 10 games on Sky Sports, with all clubs pledging at least 60 hours between games, a commitment aimed at easing an increasingly congested schedule.
Boxing Day has always been one of the busiest days in English football, and even last season the EFL kept its full fixture list.
Contact the writer of this story at (email protected)
