Premier League
Premier League Boxing Day Preview: Premier League clubs look to return with a bang
The Premier League is once again in action around the Christmas period with one of the most eagerly-anticipated events in the sporting calendar, Boxing Day football!
The Premier League’s Boxing Day fixtures are always a blockbuster event and this year is no different. Below we provide you with a full rundown of this year’s Boxing day fixtures, as well as previews for standout games below.
Boxing Day (Gameweek 19) full schedule:
Tuesday, December 26
Newcastle vs Nottingham Forest – 12:30pm
Bournemouth vs Fulham – 3pm
Sheffield United vs Luton – 3pm
Burnley vs Liverpool – 5:30pm
Manchester United vs Aston Villa – 8pm
Wednesday, December 27
Brentford vs Wolves – 7:30pm
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – 7:30pm
Everton vs Manchester City – 8:15pm
Thursday, December 28
Brighton vs Tottenham – 7:30pm
Arsenal vs West Ham – 8:15pm
Bet on Football at William Hill
Key fixtures:
Sheffield United vs Luton
On paper, Sheffield United vs Luton doesn’t exactly jump off the page as one of the games to watch on Boxing Day, but this is a real six-pointer in the fight for survival and could be the game that one of these teams look back on as the reason they either stayed up or went down come the end of the season.
Both sides currently find themselves in the bottom three, but despite being at the foot of the table Sheffield United are 5/4 favourites to treat their fans to all three points on Boxing Day. At 2/1 Luton will fancy their chances of overturning their underdog status having put in increasingly positive performances as of late, scoring in five of their last six games, including three goals against table-toppers Arsenal.
Manchester United vs Aston Villa
At the start of the season no one would have batted an eyelid if these two sides were facing off with one eyeing up a title challenge and the other fighting to maintain their top six status – but the fact that it is Villa who are just a point off the top would not have been expected.
Unai Emery’s side have shown no signs of slowing down this season and will be full of hope heading to Old Trafford on Boxing Day as slight underdogs in the betting at 17/10.
United’s 13/10 favouritism for this fixture is somewhat of a surprise given the negative press surrounding their season so far, but Erik ten Hag’s side are still in touch with the top four and having held Liverpool to a 0-0 last weekend they will be hopeful of stopping Villa’s potent attack, spearheaded by Ollie Watkins who is 11/8 to find the back of the net on Boxing Day.
Brighton vs Tottenham
Brighton and Tottenham players alike will be overjoyed with this year’s schedule which sees them play on the 28th of December rather than Boxing Day. Nonetheless this game is one that looks a real treat for the neutral.
Both sides play eye-catching football with goals much higher on the agenda than clean sheets – Both teams to score seems the obvious place to start at 4/9. In terms of the goal scorers themselves, it’s Evan Ferguson and Heung-min Son who lead the charge for their sides at 17/10 and 13/8 respectively to score anytime.
With Brighton at home, Roberto De Zerbi’s side are narrow favourites at 6/5, but Ange Postecoglou won’t be worried about that and should expect his side to reignite their title charge at 7/4 to make it three wins in a row on the south coast.
