Across the pond, they call in Boxing Day, here we know it as St. Stephens day. Despite the differences in name, football fans around the world all have something in common. We will all be parked in front of the tele spending some quality time with our favourite Premier League teams.
Here is a rundown of all the fixtures on the 26th and 27th of Decmber. There is more games throughout the Christmas season so check back on Monday to see the where and how to watch those games, until then here is the upcoming fixtures :
Saturday 26th December
12:30 Leicester City v Manchester United on BT Sport 1
The fixtures kick off with a Christmas Cracker! The third-place team faces the second-place team with a point separating the foxes from the Red Devils. Both sides had very impressive victories against both Tottenham and Leeds United in their last encounters. Manchester United’s form away from home has been a sight to behold, but so has Jamie Vardy’s! Brenden Rodgers will be looking to take advantage of Solskjaer’s defensive insecurities and will be aware more than anyone of Harry Maguire’s weaknesses. Leicester were knocked out of a Champions League spot on the last day of the Premier League by the Manchester side, so they should be raring to set the record straight.
15:00 Aston Villa v Crystal Palace BBC One
Crystal Palace will be feeling the effects of their drubbing at the hands of Liverpool, where they conceded seven at home. Aston Villa on the other hand managed to score seven against Liverpool, so this fixture and result may epitomize the strange season more than any. Benteke may have missed the last fixture against his former club Liverpool but he returns for this game against another one of his former clubs Aston Villa. Another former villain at Palace, Gary Cahill is a defensive doubt which may be worrying for Roy Hodgson. Dean Smith’s team are an in-form side having taken seven points from a possible nine this month.
15:00 Fulham v Southampton On Sky
Southampton are aiming for Europe so they will be looking at this Fulham clash as somewhere they can pick up three points after suffering a setback against Man City. Fulham despite being in the relegation zone will be confident as they have only lost once in their last five meetings and that was also to the blue team of Manchester. Ralph Hasenhüttl should be confident heading into this battle but maybe weary as he could have to do without last year’s star man Danny Ings.
17:30 Arsenal v Chelsea On Sky
Unai Emery has been setting records with Villareal, who are currently undefeated in the past 19 games. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has seen his Arsenal side crash out in the quarter-final of the carabao cup which comes after seven Premier League games without a win. Chelsea will be confident after an assured performance against West Ham. The only real problem they have is who will they start up top. Former Gunner Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham who scored two last time out.
20:00 Manchester City v Newcastle United on BT Sport 1
Poor Newcastle, what a run of fixtures they have coming up. The toon army lost to Brentford last time out in Carabao cup and now have Man City, Liverpool and Leicester staring at them over the course of eight days. Man City managed to get their scoring boots on against Arsenal scoring four. The worrying thing for Newcastle is Ederson, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling were all given a rest from starting line up in the quarter-final clash, so should be raring to go
20:00 Sheffield United v Everton on BT Sport 2
Sheffield United will be devasted after not being able to hold out for their first three points of the season against Brighton last weekend. Danny Welbeck scored in the dying embers of the game to continue the misery for Chris Wilders side. Everton defeated a poor Arsenal side in their last fixture so should have enough to garner the win against the bottom of the table club.
Sunday 27th December
12:00 Leeds United v Burnley On Sky
Leeds United were on the wrong end of a 6-2 thumping at the hands of their Old Rose rivals Manchester United in their last fixture. Despite the result, they received huge plaudits for their swashbuckling style, and will no doubt bring the same attacking intensity to their Elland Road clash against Burnley. The Clarets are coming in hot on the heels off a crucial victory over Wolves however, in general, they have not traveled well. To be fair Leeds home form has not been spectacular either only winning a possible two of seven games, coupled with the loss of Captain and defensive stalwart Liam Cooper, we could be in for a highly entertaining game.
14:15 West Ham United v Brighton and Hove Albion On Sky
Brighton travelled to the London Stadium to take on a West Ham side hurting after losing to Chelsea 3 – 0. Brighton are struggling towards the bottom of the table, hovering just above the relation zone while David Moyes has got his side performing a whole lot better this season. If they can recapture their November form where they claimed nine points from nine the would be hoping to hammer Potters seagulls.
16:30 Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion On Sky
Sam Allardyce and West Brom will be hoping to be the first side the defeat Liverpool at Anfield in 67 attempts. However after The Reds display against Crystal Palace where they scored seven, the Baggies won’t hold their breath. Even despite the seven nil romp West Brom could not hope for much after only registering one victory so far in the league, and that was against the only team lower them in the table, the 20th placed Sheffield United.
19:15 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur On Sky
The run of hard fixtures continues for Jose Mourinho, whose side have only picked up one point from a possible nine. Looking like early title contenders, they now find themselves down in sixth position after a terrible December. Nuno Santo has his Wolves side languishing mid-table as the team struggles for goals, losing to Burnley 2 -1 last time out. The two Portuguese managers will be looking to steady the ship after all the recent rocky results.
