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The rich history of English Premier League football on Boxing Day stretches back to its inaugural season in 1888.
There was no club south of Birmingham, goals had no net and goalkeepers could catch the ball anywhere inside their own half. Much has changed in the following 136 years, but the tradition of football after Christmas has remained intact.
However, in the past 13 decades there have been few rounds of Boxing Day meetings as shy as the 2024 bid. Over ten Premier League games, there were only 17 goals. Fulham’s match with Ipswich Town on 26 December 1963 produced 11 goals alone (although ten were for the Cottagers).
While this midweek sprinkling of matches may have been short on successful kicks, there were still plenty of outstanding performances for purists to enjoy.
Arsenal emerged from their first game without Bukayo Saka with all three points thanks only to Kai Havertz’s 23rd-minute opener against Ipswich on Friday night.
The German operated in a deeper role to accommodate Gabriel Jesus’ constant involvement. From this withdrawn position, Havertz spiced up a largely workmanlike contest with a brief flourish of flair and finesse that Arsenal will desperately need Shaka’s long absence.
Joelinton may not have the guile of Bruno Guimaraes or the technical excellence of Sandro Tonali, but the hulking Brazilian has outshone his midfield counterparts against Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Succeeding in a hand-me-down in a game Newcastle dominated at both ends Jhon Duran’s red cardJoelinton capped off a brilliant performance with a crisp, curling goal that would have done Guimaraes or Tonali proud.
Thibaut Courtois, Manuel Neuer, David Raya, Alisson, Ederson and Andre Onana. None of that elite goalkeepers he can match Jordan Pickford’s tally of seven clean sheets in the top flight this season.
Everton’s enigmatic number one couldn’t add to his Boxing Day send-off tally – he was beaten by a fortuitous turn rather than Bernardo Silva – but he saved Erling Haaland’s second-half penalty to earn the Toffees a precious point, sending the City forward into spiral of existential dread.
Mohamed Salah doesn’t play football anymore, he simply figured out how to win.
With everyone record goal and assist which always punctuates every appearance, Salah grows increasingly distant from his fellow immortals, let alone the mere mortals unfortunate enough to oppose him.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is well aware of Cody Gakpo’s prolific skills. The former PSV star has re-discovered his clinical sharpness since being deployed on his favored left flank this season and has moved from Victory 3-1 over Van Nistelrooy’s Leicester with a goal and an assist.
“Cody Gakpo was in his team,” Arne Slot pointed out ahead of Liverpool’s Boxing Day, “so I’m happy he’s in my team now.”
Manchester United’s reputation for set-pieces is so bad that clubs actively try to score directly from corner kicks. Matheus Cunha followed in the footsteps of Son Heung-min from seven days earlier and curled a devilish delivery all the way into the far corner.
Trying to be an ‘Olympian’ is one thing, but having the skill and guile to actually turn such a daring effort into something else entirely. Cunha, however, is not lacking in that department.
The A target for Arsenal and Manchester United proved once again why Wolves are so desperate to keep hold of their star man as they orchestrate a 2-0 win over the Red Devils on Thursday.
