Leicester may host United on Christmas Eve

Leicester City and Manchester United are the latest two clubs coming under pressure to play their Premier League match scheduled for Dec 23 on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

There has already been controversy around the plans to schedule Arsenal’s home game against Liverpool at lunchtime on Christmas Eve, with issues over the London club being able to hire the requisite number of stewards.

The Daily Telegraph understands that United and Leicester are pushing back hard against the proposals by the broadcaster Sky Sports, supported by the Premier League, with the potential for the game at the King Power Stadium to be played at 3pm or even one hour later, at the traditional Sunday set-piece televised kick-off of 4pm.

There is frustration at Sky Sports at being cast as the villains of the piece, with the broadcaster, which paid £4.2 billion for its share of the domestic rights, obliged to select games to play on the Sunday. Currently the Premier League schedule for that weekend, beginning Dec 23, has match-ups that pair geographically distant clubs, including West Ham United and Newcastle United; Southampton and Huddersfield Town; and Manchester City and Bournemouth.

Away fans making long journeys to watch their teams at the weekend before Christmas are likely to run into problems on public transport and motorway networks already under strain.

There are also concerns about putting undue pressure on the emergency services at a time of the year when they are stretched.