All eyes on Old Trafford for the traditional Boxing Day clash | OneFootball

As is tradition every December 26th, the ball will roll in English football, although this year in an almost symbolic way, with the match between Manchester United and Newcastle, the opening match of the 18th round of the Premier League, being the only clash of the day.

The famous Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, will therefore be concentrated in these 90 minutes at Old Trafford, as the English league opted to schedule seven matches of the round for Saturday, December 27th, and the remaining two for Sunday, December 28th, mainly due to television broadcasting preferences.

“The league adapts to the calendar. We can guarantee that next season, we will have more Premier League games on Boxing Day, as this date will fall on a Saturday,” announced the league officials when it became clear that the tradition would be significantly reduced in 2025.

The chosen match will pit two teams against each other, Manchester United (7th) and Newcastle (11th), who are looking to climb the table and reach the top part of the standings.

Before this game, they are three and six points, respectively, behind Chelsea, who currently occupies the fourth position, the last one that guarantees qualification for the Champions League.

The Portuguese captain of Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes, who suffered a thigh injury last weekend, is expected to be out for a few matches and will be a significant absence for this duel.

Chelsea tries to stop Aston Villa

Chelsea, world champion in last July, will be one of the protagonists in what promises to be the big game of the weekend in England as they host Aston Villa, third place, at Stamford Bridge.

Last weekend, Chelsea managed only a draw against Newcastle and saw Aston Villa, the team ahead of them in the standings, extend the lead to seven points.

Villa has been the sensation of English football in recent weeks, after achieving their seventh consecutive victory in the Premier League last weekend and their tenth in all competitions.

Despite this impressive streak, the Spanish coach of the Birmingham team, Unai Emery, urges caution and avoids any kind of euphoria.

“We are where we are because we are competing fantastically and because the players are very focused on each match, being consistent. But we are not title contenders. We have been consistent for about three years, securing spots in European competitions, but we must maintain humility,” declared the Basque coach last Saturday.

Leadership at stake

The truth is that Aston Villa is fully involved in the fight for the lead, just one point behind Manchester City (2nd) and three points behind the leader Arsenal.

City will visit Nottingham Forest (17th) on Saturday, after Pep Guardiola checked the weight of each of his players. He has already warned them that he would not tolerate any weight gain during the holiday season.

Arsenal, in turn, plays at home on Saturday against Brighton (9th) and hopes to have a calmer match than Tuesday's against Crystal Palace, whom they defeated in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals of the English League Cup.

Liverpool, which has eased the crisis in recent weeks and climbed to the fifth position, will try to continue its rise with a match that, in theory, is quite accessible. It will be on Saturday, at Anfield, against the bottom-placed Wolverhampton.

*With content from AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.