The "expansion of European club competitions" has led to there being just one game on 26 December in the English top flight, says the Premier League. Boxing Day fixtures have been a long-standing tradition in English football but this year the only Premier League game will be Manchester United's home match with Newcastle United (20:00 GMT).

"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 while confirming the schedule for this year's festive fixtures.

"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.

"With fewer weekends to work with, the League is bound by how the calendar falls." This year Boxing Day falls on a Friday - it will be followed by seven games on Saturday, 27 December. The remaining two games will then be on Sunday, 28 December - Sunderland v Leeds and Crystal Palace v Tottenham - before matchweek 19 starts with six games being played on Tuesday, 30 December.

The Premier League added: "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.

"As with previous years, and in keeping with our commitment to clubs, special arrangements have been made to allow more time between games played across the festive period.

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