Premier League Christmas Schedule Returns: Seven Boxing Day Matches, Only One on New Year's Day

The Premier League officially confirmed on Thursday that seven matches will be scheduled for Boxing Day in the 2026-27 season, while there will be only one match on New Year's Day. The traditional festive fixture schedule is back.

Boxing Day: From 12:30 noon until 8:00 p.m.

Boxing Day will fall on Saturday, December 26. The first match of the day is Aston Villa at home against Leeds United, with kickoff at 12:30 p.m. (Greenwich Mean Time). This will be followed by four 3:00 p.m. matches: Everton vs Sunderland, Fulham vs Brighton, Ipswich Town vs Brentford, and Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth. Liverpool's away match against Hull City is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., while the final Boxing Day match is Newcastle United vs Manchester City at 8:00 p.m.

The remaining three matches will be played on Sunday, December 27. Chelsea travel to face Coventry City at 2:00 p.m., Manchester United host Nottingham Forest at 4:30 p.m., and Arsenal visit Crystal Palace at 7:00 p.m.

Last season, only one match was played on Boxing Day — Manchester United's home game against Newcastle United. The Premier League broke with tradition at the time because of scheduling complexity: the league needed to arrange 33 rounds of matches on weekends, and that obligation has now been completed.

Only one match on New Year's Day, with nine more on January 2 and 3

New Year's Day falls on Friday, and the only match that day will be Leeds United at home against Everton. The other nine matches will be split between Saturday, January 2, and Sunday, January 3.

Teams will then play again on either Tuesday, December 29, or Wednesday, December 30. A total of 10 matches will take place across those two days, all broadcast by Sky Sports.

The Premier League said that throughout the festive schedule, all clubs will have at least 60 hours between their two matches. The league said in a statement that this fulfills its commitment to clubs in addressing the congested festive period, against the backdrop of expanding European and international football calendars.

Broadcast times announced early, giving fans three months of preparation time

Broadcast selections for the festive period have also been confirmed. The Premier League said the announcement was made earlier than usual — even before the television selections for November matches — because the league reached an agreement with its broadcast partners.

The Premier League said the broadcast confirmation 'gives supporters more than three months to plan and arrange travel during one of the busiest periods of the year', and was made after consultation with the Football Supporters' Association and representatives from club fan advisory boards.

Historically, Boxing Day has been one of the busiest days of the year for English men's football, with a full schedule across the professional and semi-professional pyramid. Although the Premier League broke tradition last season, the English Football League (EFL, the second to fourth tiers of the men's football pyramid) still scheduled a full Boxing Day programme as usual.

Premier League festive schedule overview

Matchweek 17

Saturday, December 26

Leeds United vs Aston Villa (12:30)