Manchester United angry over Christmas Eve fixture proposal

Manchester United and Leicester City may have to face off on Christmas Eve, despite both clubs lobbying against the proposal. The Telegraph’s chief football writer Sam Wallace claims that though Sky Sports are being “cast of the villains of the piece”, the broadcaster is actually under obligation to the Premier League to select a second televised Christmas Eve ‘Super Sunday’ fixture — the other being Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool.

Christmas Eve fixtures — which haven’t been played since 1995 — have the potential to cause logistical nightmares for travelling supporters, as Wallace writes: “Away fans making long journeys to watch their teams on the weekend before Christmas are likely to run into problems on public transport and motorway networks already under strain.” Arsenal have already had problems hiring sufficient stewards for their match. It’s certainly not ideal.

However, money talks, and “under the terms of its deal, Sky would lose its ‘Super Sunday’ pick if it moves the game back to a Saturday.” It’s clearly the sensible thing to do, but don’t expect sense to triumph.