Sky Sports and BT Sport have confirmed their live Barclays Premier League games for a bumper festive and New Year period of football.
The schedule includes Chelsea’s matches at Arsenal and at home to Liverpool, both live on Sky Sports, while Newcastle United’s trip to Manchester United, Manchester City’s home match against the Gunners and United’s home game against Tottenham will be shown on BT Sport.
Fixtures announced by both channels covers the whole of December as well as New Year’s Day games, taking fans right up to the third round proper of the FA Cup.
Sky Sports continues its biggest ever season of live football with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all feature in the selections.
There are at least three live fixtures a week on Sky Sports throughout December, including Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool, Arsenal v Chelsea and Chelsea v Liverpool.
Not only does Sky Sports have live coverage of 116 matches in total each season, its audience has hit a new record in the early part of the season.
Average viewers for the first 23 live Premier League matches on Sky Sports are up 20% on last year, helping Sky Sports record its best ever start to a Premier League season.
In 2014, viewers can look forward to 57 more live matches between January and May, making Sky Sports the home to more than three-quarters of all televised fixtures over the remainder of the season.
Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “The great sport keeps on coming for Sky Sports viewers. This is our biggest ever season of Premier League football and we’re off to a record-breaking start with our audiences well up on last year.
“We are the unrivalled home of the Premier League and viewers are responding really positively to having access to the widest range of must-see fixtures.”
New rivals BT Sport have scored some of the highest quality Premier League ties in the latest round of ‘top picks’ – including double header feasts of football on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
BT Sport will show three games between teams currently challenging for the title, Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City v Arsenal and Manchester City v Liverpool.
For the first time, BT Sport will be able to offer back to back double headers.
On Boxing Day, viewers can enjoy West Ham United v Arsenal at 3.0pm, followed by Manchester City v Liverpool, kicking off at 5.30pm.
On New Year’s Day, fans can nurse their hangovers by tucking into the double delight of Southampton v Chelsea at 3.00pm and then Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur at 5.30pm.
As well as the festive double headers, BT Sport has also completed another double by securing both home and away fixtures of Manchester United’s clashes with Tottenham this season.
Simon Green, director of BT Sport, said: “We’re delighted with the first pick games that we are serving up through December and the New Year, and BT Sport viewers will now reap the benefits of our Christmas Cracker top picks.
“We are continuing to deliver what we promised football fans – live matches between clubs involved in the title race, the type of matches previously never shown on any other channel than Sky.
“I am especially delighted that we’re able to offer some superb matches over the holiday period and offer two incredibly enticing double headers, just ahead of our FA Cup third round coverage which starts at the beginning of January.”
BT Sport has the rights to show 38 exclusively live football matches from the Barclays Premier League, including 18 of the ‘top picks’ for three seasons.
The channels will also screen live FA Cup, Scottish Premiership and Europa League games, plus a top line-up of European football.
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Live 2013-14 Barclays Premier League games on Sky Sports & BT Sport
December / early January
Crystal Palace v West Ham United
Tuesday 3 December, 8pm – BT Sport Swansea City v Newcastle United
Wednesday 4 December, 7.45pm – BT Sport Manchester United v Newcastle United
Saturday 7 December, 12.45pm – BT Sport Sunderland v Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday 7 December, 5.30pm – Sky Sports Fulham v Aston Villa
Sunday 8 December, 1.30pm – Sky Sports Arsenal v Everton
Sunday 8 December, 4pm – Sky Sports Swansea City v Hull City
Monday 9 December, 8pm – Sky Sports Manchester City v Arsenal
Saturday 14 December, 12.45pm – BT Sport Hull City v Stoke City
Saturday 14 December, 5.30pm – Sky Sports Aston Villa v Manchester United Sunday 15 December, 1.30pm – Sky Sports Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool Sunday 15 December, 4pm – Sky Sports Liverpool v Cardiff City
Saturday 21 December, 12.45pm – BT Sport Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur
Sunday 22 December, 1.30pm – Sky Sports Swansea City v Everton
Sunday 22 December, 4pm – Sky Sports Arsenal v Chelsea
Monday 23 December, 8pm – Sky Sports Hull City v Manchester United
Thursday 26 December, 12.45pm – Sky Sports West Ham United v Arsenal
Thursday 26 December, 3pm – BT Sport Manchester City v Liverpool
Thursday 26 December, 5.30pm – BT Sport West Ham United v West Bromwich Albion
Saturday 28 December, 12.45pm – Sky Sports Cardiff City v Sunderland
Saturday 28 December, 5.30pm – Sky Sports Newcastle United v Arsenal
Sunday 29 December, 1.30pm – Sky Sports Chelsea v Liverpool
Sunday 29 December, 4pm – Sky Sports Swansea City v Manchester City
Wednesday 1 January, 12.45pm – Sky Sports Southampton v Chelsea
Wednesday 1 January, 3pm – BT Sport Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
Wednesday 1 January, 5.30pm – BT Sport
