Why Manchester United vs Newcastle United is the only Premier League match on Boxing Day 2025?

Manchester United’s home match against Newcastle United will be the only Boxing Day match in the current Premier League season, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm GMT (1.30am IST, December 27).

With this, the top class of English football breaks with the long tradition of festive matches that started in 1888.

The League has cited fixture congestion and broadcast contract requirements as the official reason for the sparse Boxing Day schedule.

“There are now several challenges to the Premier League fixtures, rooted in the expansion of European club competitions – which led to a review of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup.”

Why is Manchester United vs Newcastle United the only match on Boxing Day?

Because Boxing Day falls on a Friday and the Premier League has committed to a 33-weekend broadcast deal, only one match could be allocated to December 26.

However, the choice of the match between Manchester United and Newcastle is arbitrary – a by-product of multinational IT company Atos’ complex match compilation, which takes into account a host of factors such as international breaks, European commitments and domestic cup matches to create the fixture list.

The Premier League has confirmed it will return to a packed Boxing Day schedule for 2026 as it falls on a Saturday.

“The League can provide assurance that there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day next season, as the date falls on a Saturday,” the Premier League said.

Published on December 25, 2025