Boxing Day will feature just a single Premier League match—Manchester United vs. Newcastle United—in a shift away from the holiday period tradition.
Usually one of the busiest periods of any football season, the league announced all other Gameweek 18 fixtures will take place Dec. 27–28. There won’t be a Christmas Eve fixture this year either.
Instead, there will be 10 matches between Dec. 20–22, no matches through Christmas Day and then Man Utd hosting Newcastle at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. The last time there was a Christmas Eve fixture was in 2023 when Wolverhampton Wanderers faced Chelsea.
“The Premier League would like to acknowledge the circumstances that have led to a reduced number of matches on Boxing Day this season – impacting an important tradition in English football,” the league said Friday.
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Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd take the spotlight on Boxing Day. / Carl Recine/Getty Images
The Premier League detailed challenges that arose this season with scheduling, highlighting European competitions, the FA Cup and the calendar, while also making a big commitment for the 2026–27 campaign.
“There are now several challenges to Premier League fixture scheduling rooted in the expansion of European club competitions—which led to a revision of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup. This ultimately left the Premier League as a 33-weekend competition—fewer than previous seasons, despite being a 380-match competition since 1995,” the league said.
“With fewer weekends to work with, the League is bound by how the calendar falls. The League can give an assurance that next season there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day—as the date falls on a Saturday.”
The recent changes guarantee no team will be play two matches withing 60 hours of each other.
The full slate of fixtures from Boxing Day through New Year’s Day is as follows:
Date
Match
Dec. 26, 2025
Manchester United vs. Newcastle United
Dec. 27, 2025
Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City
Dec. 27, 2025
Arsenal vs. Brighton
Dec. 27, 2025
Brentford vs. Bournemouth
Dec. 27, 2025
Burnley vs. Everton
Dec. 27, 2025
Liverpool vs. Wolves
Dec. 27, 2025
West Ham United vs. Fulham
Dec. 27, 2025
Chelsea vs. Aston Villa
Dec. 28, 2025
Sunderland vs. Leeds United
Dec. 28, 2025
Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Dec. 30, 2025
Burnley vs. Newcastle United
Dec. 30, 2025
Chelsea vs. Bournemouth
Dec. 30, 2025
Nottingham Forest vs. Everton
Dec. 30, 2025
West Ham United vs. Brighton
Dec. 30, 2025
Arsenal vs. Aston Villa
Dec. 30, 2025
Manchester United vs. Wolves
Jan. 1, 2026
Crystal Palace vs. Fulham
Jan. 1, 2026
Liverpool vs. Leeds United
Jan. 1, 2026
Brentford vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Jan. 1, 2026
Sunderland vs. Manchester City
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