Why there is set to be only one Premier League game on Boxing Day | OneFootball

There is set to be a break from tradition on December 26 this year

Boxing Day lands on a Friday this year and that has left the Premier League with a fixture headache.

The Premier League are contracted by broadcasters to fulfil their fixtures across 33 weekends and five midweek rounds of matches.

Boxing Day weekend is one of those 33 weekends and a congested calendar due to expanded UEFA club competitions and exclusive FA Cup weekends means there is no space to move fixtures.

The default date for matches in that round of games is Saturday, December 27 but, as is always the case, broadcast picks can be selected across the Friday before through to the Monday after.

The expectation is that there will be one game on Boxing Day, but not the traditional offering of several matches.

Boxing Day falls on a Saturday next season, so it is likely that will have multiple matches taking place on it.

The Premier League are yet to announce the broadcast picks for the festive period, but if there is only one match on Boxing Day it would mean the fewest top-flight games on December 26 in 43 years.

The festive fixture schedule had due to be announced on October 15, but only games up to December 22 were confirmed.

The delay is an indication of the difficulties around scheduling fixtures in a congested calendar with multiple stakeholders.