Why is there only one Premier League game on Boxing Day? Christmas fixture schedule over festive period

Why is there only one Premier League game on Boxing Day? Christmas fixture schedule over festive period originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Boxing Day games are a great tradition of the English football season, but 2025 will look a little different.

While there is a near-full EFL card on December 26 this year, there is only one Premier League match taking place on that date: Manchester United's clash with Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

The decision not to stage more top-flight games on that Friday is one that caused considerable backlash when the Premier League announced the festive fixture schedule back in November, but the league insists it has a valid reason for the change.

The Sporting News looks at why we'll have a sparse Boxing Day this year, and the full schedule for the Christmas and New Year period.

MORE:Updated standings in Premier League Golden Boot race

Why is there only one Premier League game on Boxing Day?

The Premier League blamed the reduced Boxing Day schedule for 2025 on the expanded competition schedule in Europe.

The league said the decision to increase the number of teams and early gameweeks in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League had presented a significant challenge to its own festive scheduling.

"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.

26/12 - In 2025, there will be one top-flight match played on Boxing Day, the fewest since 1982, when there were none. Tradition? pic.twitter.com/XcCRfq5Zti

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 31, 2025

"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.

"With fewer weekends to work with, the league is bound by how the calendar falls."

The fact Boxing Days falls on a Friday in 2025 meant Premier League organisers could simply move the majority of games to a more traditional weekend format over December 27 and 28, which also allowed meant teams would avoid playing a match within 60 hours of their previous game.

However, they did "give an assurance that next season there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day, as the date falls on a Saturday".

Christmas Premier League fixture schedule for 2025

Below is the Premier League fixture schedule for the 2025 festive period.

All times local (GMT)

Saturday, December 20

• Newcastle United vs. Chelsea (12:30 p.m.)
• Wolves vs. Brentford (3 p.m.)
• Manchester City vs. West Ham (3 p.m.)
• Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Sunderland (3 p.m.)
• Bournemouth vs. Burnley (3 p.m.)
• Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool (5:30 p.m.)
• Leeds United vs. Crystal Palace (8 p.m.)
• Everton vs. Arsenal (8 p.m.)

Sunday, December 21

• Aston Villa vs. Manchester United (4:30 p.m.)

Monday, December 22

• Fulham vs. Nottingham Forest (8 p.m.)

Friday, December 26

• Manchester United vs. Newcastle United (8 p.m.)

Saturday, December 27

• Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City (12:30 p.m.)
• West Ham vs. Fulham (3 p.m.)
• Brentford vs. Bournemouth (3 p.m.)
• Liverpool vs. Wolves (3 p.m.)
• Arsenal vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (3 p.m.)
• Burnley vs. Everton (3 p.m.)
• Chelsea vs. Aston Villa (5:30 p.m.)
• Leeds United vs. Crystal Palace (8 p.m.)
• Everton vs. Arsenal (8 p.m.)

Sunday, December 28

• Sunderland vs. Leeds United (2 p.m.)
• Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur (4:30 p.m.)

Tuesday, December 30

• Burnley vs. Newcastle United (7:30 p.m.)
• Chelsea vs. Bournemouth (7:30 p.m.)
• Nottingham Forest vs. Everton (7:30 p.m.)
• West Ham vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (7:30 p.m.)
• Arsenal vs. Aston Villa (8:15 p.m.)
• Manchester United vs. Wolves (8:15 p.m.)

Thursday, January 1

• Crystal Palace vs. Fulham (5:30 p.m.)
• Liverpool vs. Leeds United (5:30 p.m.)
• Sunderland vs. Manchester City (8 p.m.)
• Brentford vs. Tottenham Hotspur (8 p.m.)

Saturday, January 3

• Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest (12:30 p.m.)
• Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Burnley (3 p.m.)
• Wolves vs. West Ham (3 p.m.)
• Bournemouth vs. Arsenal (5:30 p.m.)

Sunday, January 4

• Leeds United vs. Manchester United (12:30 p.m.)
• Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland (3 p.m.)
• Everton vs. Brentford (3 p.m.)
• Newcastle United vs. Crystal Palace (3 p.m.)
• Fulham vs. Liverpool (3 p.m.)
• Manchester City vs. Chelsea (5:30 p.m.)