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Boxing Day is traditionally in front of the tube for a game of Premier League! Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United football. They have to compete on the pitch and, as a bonus, they get to play again on New Year’s Eve. Boxing Day in the Premier League also always has something special…
What is Boxing Day?
December 26: Boxing Day. It sounds like putting on the gloves to step into the ring with the enemy, but nothing could be further from the truth. The term Boxing Day has a Christian background. The earliest explanation is said to have its origins in the church’s alms box, or ‘alms box’. The day after Christmas, the church would distribute money and other gifts from the box to the poor.
Another explanation could lie in ‘Christmas box’ A Christmas parcel given to postmen, errand boys and domestic helpers for services rendered. They would often still have to work on Christmas Day, and were given a box of gifts, bonuses and food by the boss the following day to take away. It has been a public holiday in the UK since 1871, and in recent years the day has mostly been used for shopping.
Betting on Boxing Day
Anyway, back to the future! To important matters, either sport, or football. For many years, the Premier League has honoured Boxing Day with a full programme of football matches. The 2022 World Cup has only just ended, but in the English Premier League they continue their overflowing schedule again.
And if they love traditions anywhere, it is in the UK. So ‘as is tradition’, football will be played at the highest level on Boxing Day. Find Christmas dinner with your in-laws boring? Then go bet on Boxing Day Premier League and make it exciting for yourself. Grab a spot at the end of the table and make sure you have a charged phone to follow everything.
Betting markets Boxing Day
Betting on Boxing Day – winner
The easiest way to bet on Premier League with Boxing Day, is to just register with Mobile Wins & grab the best odds on football betting in the Premier League.
Betting on Boxing Day – goal scorers
The Premier League was not as strongly represented among the goal scorers at the 2022 World Cup. The best were Arsenal‘s Bukayo Saka and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, who both scored three goals. Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane stuck on two, thanks to a penalty on his Jaap Stams. Will they be treacherous again on Boxing Day? Or is ‘The Robot’ Erling Haaland well rested, allowing him to score on the assembly line again?
Betting on Boxing Day – total number of goals
Maybe it’s because of Christmas Day or the time of year. But sometimes a lot of goals are scored on Boxing Day in the Premier League. At the many hundreds of betting markets per match, you can also bet on the number of goals per match.
Boxing Day 2022 schedule
26 December
- 13.30 Brentford – Tottenham Hotspur
- 16.00 Crystal Palace – Fulham
- 16.00 Everton – Wolverhampton Wanderers
- 16.00 Leicester City – Newcastle United
- 16.00 Southampton – Brighton & Hove Albion
- 18.30 Aston Villa – Liverpool
- 21.00 Arsenal – West Ham United
And just because we can, the three remaining matches just after Boxing Day:
December 27
- 18.30 Chelsea – AFC Bournemouth
- 21.00 Manchester United – Nottingham Forest
28 December
- 21.00 Leeds United – Manchester City
Mobile Wins selection
We have picked out three interesting matches especially for you to take a closer look at!
Leicester City – Newcastle United
Not the two biggest clubs in England, but still two interesting ones. After all, Leicester City are still the 2016 national champions. And Newcastle United is the Premier League’s revelation before the 2022 World Cup. They will play each other on Boxing Day (Boxing Day) at 4pm.
Newcastle United are already unbeaten 10 games in a row and have won the last five, including against Chelsea. As a result, Newcastle United are handsomely third in the Premier League. Leicester City are a bit lower, in 13th place.
Aston Villa – Liverpool
Around dinner time, 6.30pm, you might want to keep track of the Aston Villa – Liverpool standings. Virgil van Dijk will have returned with a hangover at Liverpool, who are also having a very poor season in England. After 14 games, The Reds are already 15 points behind Arsenal and 10 points behind Manchester City.
Perhaps coach Jürgen Klopp can further turn the tide against Aston Villa, after wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton before the World Cup.
Arsenal – West Ham United
The late evening match in the Premier League on Boxing Day is between Arsenal and West Ham United. Arsenal are still the proud leaders with five points ahead of Manchester City. West Ham United can be found in 16th place with four defeats in the last five games.
Boxing Day Premier League: historic day
As mentioned above, Boxing Day in the Premier League sometimes has something magical about it. Almost 60 years ago, for instance, there was such a magical day, on 26 December 1963. These were different times in what was then called the Football League.
Manchester United had been through the Munich air disaster barely six years before, which killed eight players and 15 others. Everton were the champions of the previous year and Manchester City wandered halfway through the second tier.
On Boxing Day 1963, ten games were played in the Football League. And if you had gone to the stadium, you got much more entertainment than at the dinner table with the family. For no fewer than 66 goals were scored in those ten games. Only two of the 20 teams failed to score in this goal-fest. Three players scored four goals that day.
The biggest result fell in London: Fulham won by a whopping 10-1 at home to Ipswich Town. The striking thing is that Ipswich beat Fulham 4-2 just two days later.
Blackburn Rovers won 8-2 on a visit to West Ham United. Liverpool became champions that season by winning 6-1 at home to Stoke City on Boxing Day. Manchester United finished second, but were completely wiped out on Boxing Day: they lost 6-1 to Burnley.
All results Boxing Day 1963
- Blackpool FC – Chelsea 1-5
- Burnley – Manchester United 6-1
- Fulham – Ipswich Town 10-1
- Leicester City – Everton 2-0
- Liverpool – Stoke City 6-1
- Nottingham Forest – Sheffield United 3-3
- Sheffield Wednesday – Bolton Wanderers 3-0
- West Bromwich Albion – Tottenham Hotspur 4-4
- West Ham United – Blackburn Rovers 2-8
- Wolverhampton Wanderers – Aston Villa 3-3
Top 3 Boxing Day matches
1992: Sheffield Wednesday – Manchester United 3-3
The first season of the newly established Premier League saw a wonderful game on Boxing Day. Sir Alex Ferguson had been coaching Manchester United for about six years, but had only won an FA Cup in 1990. On Boxing Day 1993, Sheffield Wednesday were already leading 3-0 at half-time.
But Scot Brian McClair scored twice with his head after half-time. And just before time, the legendary Eric Cantona made it 3-3. Manchester United became national champions that season and the term ‘Fergie Time’ was born: late goals for Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
2007: Chelsea – Aston Villa 4-4
This was a Premier League Boxing Day match that really had it all. Lots of goals, cards, controversy. The only thing actually missing was a streaker. At Chelsea, José Mourinho had just left and Avram Grant had come in.
Under the Israeli, Chelsea were competing for the title with the likes of Manchester United. However, at their own Stamford Bridge, Chelsea found themselves 0-2 down through two goals from Shaun Maloney.
Just before and after half-time, The Blues came back to 2-2 through two goals by Andriy Shevchenko. Aston Villa were already down to ten men at half-time due to red for Zat Knight. Just after half-time, Alex (former PSV) scored the 3-2 on a pass from Shevchenko. After Aston Villa’s 3-3, the match exploded completely. Two red cards for Chelsea and another goal for both teams in the final minutes for a 4-4 final score.
2017: AFC Bournemouth – West Ham United 3-3
A slightly more recent but equally spectacular 3-3 result was between AFC Bournemouth and West Ham United in 2017. The Hammers took a 1-0 lead, but Bournemouth then took a 2-1 lead through a goal from Nathan Aké, among others.
In the 81st and 89th minutes, however, Marko Arnautovic provided another West Ham lead. Well into injury time, Callum Wilson still made it 3-3 for Bournemouth. Although the question among West Ham fans is whether that was not with his hand.
