The Premier League has confirmed a significant adjustment to its winter schedule for the 2025/26 season: Boxing Day will feature a single top-flight fixture, Manchester United vs. Newcastle United at Old Trafford. The decision marks a departure from the long-standing holiday period format and follows a reworking of the December calendar.

Instead of a crowded Boxing Day, the league said there will be 10 matches between Dec. 20–22, no matches through Christmas Day and then Manchester United hosting Newcastle at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. The league pointed to congestion across competitions as the root cause: European club competition expansion, a revised domestic calendar and changes to the FA Cup reduced the number of available weekends.

“The Premier League would like to acknowledge the circumstances that have led to a reduced number of matches on Boxing Day this season – impacting an important tradition in English football,” the league said Friday.

The statement elaborated on the scheduling constraints. “There are now several challenges to Premier League fixture scheduling rooted in the expansion of European club competitions—which led to a revision of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup. This ultimately left the Premier League as a 33-weekend competition—fewer than previous seasons, despite being a 380-match competition since 1995,” the league said.

“With fewer weekends to work with, the League is bound by how the calendar falls. The League can give an assurance that next season there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day—as the date falls on a Saturday.”

The recent changes guarantee no team will play two matches within 60 hours of each other. The league published the full slate from Boxing Day through New Year’s Day as follows:

Dec. 26, 2025 — Manchester United vs. Newcastle United
Dec. 27, 2025 — Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City
Dec. 27, 2025 — Arsenal vs. Brighton
Dec. 27, 2025 — Brentford vs. Bournemouth
Dec. 27, 2025 — Burnley vs. Everton
Dec. 27, 2025 — Liverpool vs. Wolves
Dec. 27, 2025 — West Ham United vs. Fulham
Dec. 27, 2025 — Chelsea vs. Aston Villa
Dec. 28, 2025 — Sunderland vs. Leeds United
Dec. 28, 2025 — Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Dec. 30, 2025 — Burnley vs. Newcastle United
Dec. 30, 2025 — Chelsea vs. Bournemouth
Dec. 30, 2025 — Nottingham Forest vs. Everton
Dec. 30, 2025 — West Ham United vs. Brighton
Dec. 30, 2025 — Arsenal vs. Aston Villa
Dec. 30, 2025 — Manchester United vs. Wolves
Jan. 1, 2026 — Crystal Palace vs. Fulham
Jan. 1, 2026 — Liverpool vs. Leeds United
Jan. 1, 2026 — Brentford vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Jan. 1, 2026 — Sunderland vs. Manchester City

The Premier League currently fields an unusually deep pool of midfield talent, spread across the traditional powers and beyond. Below is a concise assessment of the players outlined in the original draft, concentrating on roles, recent form and defining attributes.

Xavi Simons arrived at Tottenham Hotspur last summer from RB Leipzig and is still adapting to English football. The Netherlands international has shown glimpses of his creative brilliance. A versatile attacking midfielder, Simons excels in small spaces, using a low centre of gravity and a quick turn of pace to influence play around the penalty area.

Martin Ødegaard remains one of the division’s top midfielders despite a dip in stock over the past year due to injuries and questions over his long-term role. The Arsenal captain is often deployed into the wide right space by the system, but he has built a strong relationship with Bukayo Saka. He may be better suited to a traditional attacking midfield role where his playmaking and left foot are most threatening.

Bruno Guimarães has been a model of consistency since joining Newcastle United in 2022. An all-action presence, he combines tackles, accurate diagonals and timely goals with a tireless work rate, forming a central trio with Sandro Tonali and Joelinton.

Martín Zubimendi turned down Liverpool in summer 2024 before joining Arsenal. The Spaniard has adapted quickly, offering defensive midfield control through a blend of ferocity and finesse.

Sandro Tonali returned from a 10-month ban for breaching betting rules and has repaid Newcastle’s faith since early in the 2024–25 season. He contributes goals, tempo, ball carrying and accurate distribution, backed by tenacity.

Dominik Szoboszlai impressed Liverpool supporters with spectacular strikes on arrival but has been noted for his work ethic. Used across midfield and even at right back, he is valued for stamina, clean ball striking and passing range.

Enzo Fernández required time to settle at Chelsea but now matches the expectations of his £107 million transfer fee, offering box-crashing runs and chances from both deeper and more advanced positions.

Rodri, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, has been hampered by injuries and missed nearly all of 2024–25. On form he remains one of the best defensive midfielders, a calming, intelligent presence essential to Manchester City.

Bruno Fernandes has been Manchester United’s standout player in recent years, producing double-digit goals and assists in each of his five full seasons at the club with exceptional touch and vision.

Alexis Mac Allister rose to prominence at Brighton & Hove Albion, claimed the World Cup while representing the Seagulls, and has since become Liverpool’s deep-lying playmaker.

Cole Palmer, a Manchester City academy product, emerged at Chelsea as a talisman after a breakthrough debut season in 2023–24 and is described as a generational talent.

Florian Wirtz has had a subdued start since his £116 million move to Liverpool but previously spearheaded Bayer Leverkusen to the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal double in 2023–24 and is expected to improve.

Ryan Gravenberch was redeployed into a combative defensive midfield role under Arne Slot in 2024–25, playing a key part in Liverpool’s title and winning the Premier League Young Player of the Season award.

Declan Rice, acquired for £105 million, has transformed Arsenal’s midfield. Effective as a holding player and in a box-to-box role, he contributes goals, assists and set-piece delivery and is viewed as a complete midfielder.

On October 30, 1937, Manchester United named two home-grown players in a 1–0 defeat at Fulham’s Craven Cottage. That selection marked the first match in a run that, as of October 30, 2025, has seen the club include at least one home-grown player in every matchday squad for 88 years and more than 4,000 consecutive matches.

The club’s roots stretch back to 1878 when it was founded as Newton Heath LYR FC for employees of the Carriage and Wagon Department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath in north east Manchester. United first played top-flight football in 1892, changed its name to Manchester United a decade later after financial difficulties and collected two First Division titles and an FA Cup between 1907 and 1911.

Financial collapse loomed again after the loss of benefactor John Henry Davies in 1927. James W. Gibson’s takeover in 1931 proved pivotal. Gibson helped establish an ‘A’ team and, by 1938, the Manchester United Junior Athletic Club, MUJAC, to give local amateur players a pathway into the first team. Tom Manley, who joined in September 1930, and Jack Wassal were the two home-grown players in that October 1937 side.

MUJAC was created and overseen by Gibson and Walter Crickmer. Crickmer had two spells as manager and served 32 years as club secretary before being tragically killed in 1958’s Munich air disaster. The club’s commitment to youth was later amplified by Matt Busby. The term “Busby Babes” became synonymous with United’s values as youth scouting extended across Great Britain and Ireland. Alf Clarke wrote in the Manchester Evening Chronicle: “History was created in Manchester United football circles today. This afternoon, there are no fewer than five United teams on duty. They are the senior side, Central League XI, ‘A’ team, MUJAC first team and MUJAC second XI…no club in the country is better served with junior players than Manchester United.”

Home-grown graduates have powered many of the club’s successes. Ryan Giggs (963 appearances) and Sir Bobby Charlton (758) remain among the most-capped home-grown players, with Paul Scholes (718), Bill Foulkes (688) and Gary Neville (602) also prominent. Changes to matchday squad sizes over decades, now allowing up to 20 players in the Premier League, have helped ensure at least one academy player can be included to protect this uninterrupted record.