After an unusual 2019/20 season running into the summer, the Premier League is back underway for the 2020/21 season.
The new season began on September 12, intending to end on or around May 23, 2021. Liverpool goes into the 2020/21 campaign as top-flight champions for the first time in three decades, while newly-promoted EFL Championship winners Leeds United hope to make their mark, along with West Bromwich Albion and the Championship play-off winners Fulham.
One move which caused controversy – especially as fans cannot attend games in person right now – was the ‘box office’ pay per view system where audiences will have to pay an extra £14.95 per match on top of their subscription to see matches that weren’t originally going to be televised.
Also Read: VPN Scams and How to Avoid Them
The move has met widespread opposition, and now pay-per-view matches have been scrapped, at least until the new year, with the league saying: “There is a full schedule of Premier League games over the festive period, and clubs are committed to an accessible solution for fans.
“The agreement will be reviewed in the new year following consultation with clubs, broadcast partners, and in line with any decisions made by the government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums.”
Premier League players and staff will be tested for COVID-19 regularly, and anyone who tests positive must self-isolate in line with government guidelines. And with the December fixtures finally confirmed, here’s what we know about those all-important Christmas and New Year games.
How to watch festive football fixtures
You can use a VPN to unblock Christmas football streams. VPNs change your IP address so you can pretend to be somewhere else and unblock streams from around the world. Follow the steps below to unblock matches from the Premier League and La Liga!
- Choose a reliable, secure VPN provider and sign up for their service.
- Connect to a VPN server located in the United Kingdom, the United States, or another country that airs the Premier League/La Liga.
- Sign up to a TV channel broadcasting the games, such as Sky Sports in the UK or beIN Sports in the United States.
- Start streaming football and enjoying the festive season!
The best VPNs for watching Premier League
We have listed the best VPNs for streaming the Christmas football below. All of these services will unblock football streams and keep your data secure while streaming.
1. NordVPN
- Double encryption for added security
- Automatic kill switch
- A variety of platform support
- Six simultaneous connections
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 3-Day free trial
2. ExpressVPN
- Unlimited Bandwidth with Ultra Speed
- Provides all VPN protocols OpenVPN (TCP, UDP), L2TP-IPsec, SSTP, and PPTP
- Dedicated VPN Apps for Android & iOS
- High-End Security with OpenVPN 256-bits
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 3 simultaneous connections
3. Surfshark
- AES 256-Bit Network Encryption
- Chrome Extension Available
- Kill-Switch functionality
- A variety of platform support
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
4. CyberGhost
- Uses AES 256 Encryption
- Supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, and PPTP
- DNS & IP Leak Protection
- Uses 2048 Key & MD5 Authentication
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- Up to 7 Simultaneous Connections
5. Private Internet Access
- Offers all Protocols PPTP, OpenVPN and L2TP/IPSec including SOCKS5 Proxy
- IPv6 Leak Protection & DNS Leak Protection
- Kill-Switch functionality
- Encrypted Wi-Fi Protection
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 10 simultaneous connections
Schedule of La Liga games on Premier Sports
If you fancy some free La Liga action, here are the games scheduled to occur during Premier Sports’ current promotion. Additional fixtures will be confirmed in due course.
(All times BST; La Liga TV unless stated)
Tuesday, September 29
- Real Sociedad vs. Valencia, 6 pm kick-off
- Getafe vs. Real Betis, 8.30pm
Wednesday, September 30
- SD Huesca vs. Atletico Madrid, 6 pm
- Real Madrid vs. Real Vallodolid, 8.30 pm
Thursday, October 1
- Sevilla vs. Levante, 6 pm
- Celta Vigo vs. Barcelona, 8.30pm
How to stream festive football fixtures
Premier League fixtures will be split between BT Sport, Sky Sports, and Amazon this festive season. Check out the guides below for more information about how to unblock the services showing the Christmas fixtures:
- BT Sport
- Sky Sports
- Amazon
BT Sport
BT Sport had the rights to just over 50 Premier League fixtures during the 2020/21 campaign. It will also carry coverage of the UEFA Champions’ League and Europa League until 2024, following a multi-million-pound rights deal secured in late 2019.
November and December matches on BT include Brighton hosting reigning champions Liverpool (Saturday, November 28 at 12.30 pm) and a West Midlands derby between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa at Molineux (Sunday, December 12 at 12.30 pm).
It’s a busy Boxing Day on BT Sport with three fixtures, including Leicester City v Manchester United at 12.30 pm.
Remember that BT Sport also features coverage from the Bundesliga and holds rights to Moto GP, UFC, and WWE coverage as well.
If you also want BT Broadband, there are several viewing options, all of which you can see and sign up for here. As of November 3, 2020, there are options to save on its Sport or Big Sports offerings (the latter also bundles NOW TV’s Sky Sports offering). Contracts for these two packages run for 24 months with a £29.99 cost upfront.
Sky Sports / NOW TV
Sky has the rights to over 140 Premier League games for 2020/21, and November highlights include in-form Everton’s home game with Leeds (Saturday, November 28 at 5.30 pm).
In December, you can enjoy a north London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal on Sunday 6 at 4.30 pm, and the Manchester derby on Sunday 12 at 5.30 pm. Sky has two fixtures on Boxing Day (Arsenal v Chelsea, at 5.30 pm) and four fixtures on December 27.
Amazon Prime
Amazon is a relative newcomer to live Premier League coverage. It has 20 matches per season under the current rights agreement, and in 2019/20, it secured all of the showpiece Boxing Day fixtures.
Its first fixture this time around will be on November 27, when Crystal Palace host Newcastle United, with an 8 pm kick-off time. And it has a busy December in-store, starting with Liverpool v Wolves on December 6 (kick-off 7.15 pm).
It’s got some games on December 13, 15, 16, and 17 (including a tantalizing top-of-the-table clash between Liverpool and Spurs), plus Southampton v Manchester City on December 19, so if you were thinking about trying out Amazon Prime Video, you would get a *lot* of football in a short time. You can make your ‘all football. All the time’ jokes now if you like.
But wait, there’s more! Amazon’s also got the run of fixtures post-Boxing Day (December 28-30), if the idea of a Southampton/West Ham clash for lower-end-of-upper-half-of-the-table supremacy (December 29, 6 pm) leaves you thrilled. You can also catch league leaders (at time of writing) Tottenham Hotspur hosting very-much-not-in-form (again, at time of writing) Fulham (December 30, 6 pm).
Amazon Prime Video’s also got some other cool football-related stuff in its library, including All or Nothing: Manchester City, going behind the scenes of their successful 2017/18 season, and Six Dreams, a fly-on-the-wall look at La Liga in Spain.
It also broadcasts sports, including the US Open tennis championships, other ATP World Tour Tennis events, and NFL games.
Its Prime service is priced at £7.99 per month, although if you’ve not subscribed before, you can access its services on a 30-day trial period.
