The Premier League has confirmed that only the Manchester United versus Newcastle United match at Old Trafford will take place on Boxing Day.
The other nine matches are to be played between December 27 and 28, marking the league’s final weekend fixtures for 2025.
The visit to arch-rivals Leeds United has also been shifted to January 4, a day earlier than the previous scheduled date.
The changes have been attributed to the expansion of European football, but assurances have been given that there will be more league games on Boxing Day next season.
Man United have previously faced Newcastle three times on Boxing Day in the Premier League era, boasting a 100 percent record from these games.
The first was a seven-goal thriller in 2012, when Javier Hernandez’s strike on the stroke of full-time gave United the victory.
That was followed by a 3-1 win in 2014, with Wayne Rooney netting a brace and Robin van Persie scoring the other in the fixture.
Five years later, the Mancunian giants triumphed 4-1 once again at Old Trafford, courtesy of a brace from Antony Martial and a goal apiece from academy graduates Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood.
With United’s absence from European competitions and having been dumped out of the Carabao Cup, the Red Devils should come into this year’s fixture in a better condition than Newcastle.
However, the Red Devils will be without Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui due to their potential involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations.
United are currently on a three-match winning streak, and manager Ruben Amorim will hope his side has improved significantly ahead of the Boxing Day clash with Newcastle.
(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([“_mgc.load”])})(window,”_mgq”);
Article written by Henry Thornton .
Comments
0