Sunderland vs Leeds fixture fate revealed for Boxing Day with Premier League fans up in arms
Leeds United are due to face Sunderland in the Premier League over the festive period.
The Premier League is nine games in, and none of the three promoted sides occupy the relegation zone, with Leeds and Sunderland the two clear outliers with 11 and 17 points, respectively.
Leeds secured a 2-1 win at home to West Ham last time out, while the Black Cats stunned Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 win away to Chelsea.
In December, these two sides are due to face off against each other for the first time of the season, and the chances of the clash falling on Boxing Day seem to have been revealed.
Sunderland clash remains unlikely to be moved to Boxing Day
Last year, Leeds secured a 2-0 victory away to Stoke on Boxing Day, with 26 December often the day many fans look towards when the fixtures are released.
However, this year is different, with the Premier League facing an issue with fixtures as a result of the Champions League expansion to a league stage and FA Cup scheduling.
As a result, all top-flight fixtures had originally been planned to take place on 27 December, much to the annoyance of supporters all around the country.
However, one game could be moved to Boxing Day yet, and Alex Crook has revealed that it is unlikely to be Sunderland’s clash with Leeds.
Via talkSPORT, he said: “There’s nothing official yet from the Premier League. It is our understanding here at talkSPORT that, in a break from tradition, there will only be one Premier League game played on Boxing Day.
“Boxing Day falls on a Friday this year, the bulk of the games will be on the Saturday and Sunday. One of the main reasons for that actually is that, under the new broadcast deal, there have to be 33 weekends in the Premier League where games are available on television.
“If they didn’t play games on Saturday and Sunday this year, they would struggle to hit that number. What we don’t know is what game will be brought forward for that Friday television slot.
“There’s a possibility that it could be Palace against Tottenham, obviously two London teams, Brentford against Bournemouth is another, where fans won’t have to travel too far.“
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Leeds have had mixed results on Boxing Day
Prior to their triumph against the Potters last year, Leeds had lost their last two fixtures that fell on Boxing Day.
Leeds suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Preston in 2023, one year after a 3-1 defeat at home to Man City in the season in which the Whites got relegated.
Recent Boxing Day results for Leeds
- Stoke 0-2 Leeds
- Preston 2-1 Leeds
- Leeds 1-3 Man City
- Leeds 1-0 Burnley
- Leeds 1-1 Preston
- Leeds 3-2 Blackburn
- Preston 1-4 Leeds
Other results include a 1-0 win at home to Burnley and, ironically, another clash against Preston, which finished 1-1.
Of course, previous events mean little in the grand scheme of things, but Leeds’ record on Boxing Day fixtures is hardly inspiring enough for this reveal to be too much of a concern.
However, given the tradition behind it, it is certainly a frustrating one for fans who will have to break that this season.
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