Premier League Christmas fixtures to feature first Christmas Eve game since 1995

Pochettino 'not happy' with Christmas Eve fixture

A Premier League match will be played on Christmas Eve for the first time in 28 years when Wolves host Chelsea.

Originally scheduled for 23 December, the fixture will now take place on Sunday, 24 December at 13:00 GMT.

The only previous Christmas Eve match since the Premier League was formed in 1992 took place in 1995, when Leeds United beat Manchester United 3-1.

Three rounds of festive fixtures were provisionally set for 23, 26 and 30 December.

The Crystal Palace v Brighton game from the first round has been brought forward to Thursday, 21 December (20:00), while Aston Villa v Sheffield United will take place on Friday, 22 December (20:00 GMT).

Six matches remain on Saturday, 23 December before Chelsea visit Wolves on Christmas Eve.

The second round of festive fixtures begins with five matches on Tuesday, 26 December and three on Wednesday, 27 December.

Then on Thursday, 28 December, Brighton host current Premier League leaders Tottenham and West Ham travel to Arsenal.

Because those matches take place on a later date, after six matches are held on Saturday, 30 December, Arsenal's trip to Fulham and Tottenham's home match against Bournemouth are scheduled for Sunday, 31 December.

Liverpool versus Newcastle (20:00) on Monday, 1 January and West Ham against Brighton on Tuesday, 2 January (20:00) complete the fixtures.

The Premier League said: "As in previous seasons, special arrangements have been made to allow more time between games played across the three festive matchweeks.

"This will allow greater time for players to recover, with the rest periods between matchweeks 18, 19 and 20 being increased to ensure that no club plays within 60 hours of another match."

Chelsea will have the shortest recovery time, with 139.5 hours between their first kick-off and third kick-off, while Brighton have the most with 283.5 hours - double that of Chelsea (see below).

The Football Supporters' Association said a Christmas Eve fixture was "an unwanted present which no-one asked for", while the Chelsea Supporters' Trust (CST) described the decision as "totally unacceptable".

The CST said it would request that the Premier League consults supporters on this issue and reverse the decision, having requested an urgent meeting with decision-makers alongside the Wolves 1877 Trust.

The Premier League previously decided against rearranging Arsenal v Liverpool as a Christmas Eve fixture in 2017 following a backlash from supporters.

One match yet to be given a date is Manchester City's home match against Brentford, originally scheduled for 23 December, which has been postponed because of the champions' participation in the Fifa Club World Cup.

After the winter World Cup in Qatar last season, Premier League fixtures resumed on 26 December with a televised game every day from then until 5 January - except for 29 December.

Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Prime Video will share live broadcast rights - with 29 December again the only date without a televised Premier League match during the festive period.

Premier League festive fixtures & schedule in full

Kick-offs 15:00 unless stated. All times GMT.

Thursday, 21 December

Crystal Palace v Brighton (20:00)

Friday, 22 December

Aston Villa v Sheffield United (20:00)

Saturday, 23 December

West Ham v Manchester United (12:30)

Fulham v Burnley

Luton Town v Newcastle United

Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth

Tottenham v Everton

Liverpool v Arsenal (17:30)

Sunday, 24 December

Wolves v Chelsea (13:00)

Tuesday, 26 December

Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest (12:30)

Bournemouth v Fulham

Sheffield United v Luton Town

Burnley v Liverpool (17:30)

Manchester United v Aston Villa (20:00)

Wednesday, 27 December

Brentford v Wolves (17:30)

Chelsea v Crystal Palace (17:30)

Everton v Manchester City (20:15)

Thursday, 28 December

Brighton v Tottenham (19:30)

Arsenal v West Ham (20:15)

Saturday, 30 December

Luton Town v Chelsea (12:30)

Aston Villa v Burnley

Crystal Palace v Brentford

Manchester City v Sheffield United

Wolves v Everton

Nottingham Forest v Manchester United (17:30)

Sunday, 31 December

Fulham v Arsenal (14:00)

Tottenham v Bournemouth (14:00)

Monday, 1 January

Liverpool v Newcastle United (20:00)

Tuesday, 2 January

West Ham v Brighton (20:00)

Great for Brighton, tough for Chelsea - who has the most recovery time?*

Total recovery time

Matchday 1 fixture

Matchday 2 fixture [recovery]

Matchday 3 [recovery ]

1 - Brighton

283.5 hrs

Crystal Palace (a) 21 Dec (20:00)

Tottenham (h) 28 Dec (19:30)

[165 hrs 30 mins]

West Ham (a) 2 Jan (19:30)

[118 hrs]

2 - West Ham

243 hrs

Man Utd (h) 23 Dec (12:30)

Arsenal (a) 28 Dec (20:15)

[125 hrs 45 mins]

Brighton (h) 2 Jan (19:30)

[117 hrs 15 mins]

3 - Newcastle United

217 hrs

Luton (a) 23 Dec (15:00)

Nott'm Forest (h) 26 Dec (12:30)

[67 hrs 30 mins]

Liverpool (a) 1 Jan (20:00)

[149 hrs 30 mins]

4 - Liverpool

214.5 hrs

Arsenal (h) 23 Dec (17:30)

Burnley (a) 26 Dec (17:30)

[70 hrs]

Newcastle (h) 1 Jan (20:00)

[144 hrs 30 mins]

5 - Crystal Palace

207 hrs

Brighton (h) 21 Dec (20:00)

Chelsea (a) 27 Dec (19:30)

[141 hrs 30 mins]

Brentford (h) 30 Dec (15:00)

[65 hrs 30 mins]

6= - Bournemouth

187 hrs

Nott'm Forest (a) 23 Dec (15:00)

Fulham (h) 26 Dec (15:00)

[70 hrs]

Tottenham (a) 31 Dec (14:00)

[117 hrs]

6= - Fulham

187 hrs

Burnley (h) 23 Dec (15:00)

Bournemouth (a) 26 Dec (15:00)

[70 hrs]

Arsenal (h) 31 Dec (14:00)

[117 hrs]

6= - Tottenham

187 hrs

Everton (h) 23 Dec (15:00)

Brighton (a) 28 Dec (19:30)

[122 hrs 30 mins]

Bournemouth (h) 31 Dec (14:00)

[64 hrs 30 mins]

9 - Arsenal

184.5 hrs

Liverpool (a) 23 Dec (17:30)

West Ham (h) 28 Dec (20:15)

[120 hrs 45 mins]

Fulham (a) 31 Dec (14:00)

[63 hrs 45 mins]

10= - Aston Villa

183 hrs

Sheff Utd (h) 22 Dec (20:00)

Man Utd (a) 26 Dec (20:00)

[94 hrs]

Burnley (h) 30 Dec (15:00)

[89 hrs]

10= - Sheffield United

183 hrs

Aston Villa (a) 22 Dec (20:00)

Luton (h) 26 Dec (15:00)

[89 hrs]

Man City (a) 30 Dec (15:00)

[94 hrs]

12 - Manchester United

169 hrs

West Ham (a) 23 Dec (12:30)

Aston Villa (h) 26 Dec (20:00)

[77 hrs 30 mins]

Nott'm Forest (a) 30 Dec (17:30)

[91 hrs 30 mins]

13 - Nottingham Forest

166.5 hrs

Bournemouth (h) 23 Dec (15:00)

Newcastle (a) 26 Dec (12:30)

[67 hrs 30 mins]

Man Utd (h) 30 Dec (17:30)

[99 hrs]

14= - Burnley

164 hrs

Fulham (a) 23 Dec (15:00)

Liverpool (h) 26 Dec (17:30)

[72 hrs 30 mins]

Aston Villa 30 Dec (15:00)

[91 hrs 30 mins]

14= - Everton

164 hrs

Tottenham (a) 23 Dec (15:00)

Man City (h) 27 Dec (20:15)

[79 hrs 15 mins]

Wolves (a) 30 Dec (15:00)

[64 hrs 45 mins]

16 - Luton Town

161.5 hrs

Newcastle (h) 23 Dec (15:00)

Sheff Utd (a) 26 Dec (15:00)

[70 hrs]

Chelsea (h) 30 Dec (12:30)

[91 hrs 30 mins]

17 - Wolves

142 hrs

Chelsea (h) 24 Dec (13:00)

Brentford (a) 27 Dec (19:30)

[76 hrs 30 mins]

Everton (h) 30 Dec (15:00)

[65 hrs 30 mins]

18 - Chelsea

139.5 hrs

Wolves (a) 24 Dec (13:00)

Crystal Palace (h) 27 Dec (19:30)

[76 hrs 30 mins]

Luton (a) 30 Dec (12:30)

[63 hrs]

Brentford

N/A

Postponed

Wolves (h) 27 Dec (19:30)

Crystal Palace (a) 30 Dec (15:00)

Manchester City

N/A

Postponed

Everton (a) 27 Dec (20:15)

Sheff Utd (h) 30 Dec (15:00)

*Recovery time calculated on the basis of every match being completed within a two-hour timeframe

CORRECTION: The recovery times for all clubs were changed on 19 December to reflect that the time period for every match to be played (estimated at two hours from kick-off until full-time) was not originally taken into account.

BBC Sport
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