Sport

Where to go, where to watch, where to get tickets – your Christmas sporting guide

With football, rugby, racing and more on the agenda it’s a festive season sporting bonanza

Premier League, pro14 rugby, racing, the Ashes and much more to keep you entertained over the festive period. Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

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Ruaidhrí Croke
Fri Dec 22 2017 - 11:49

There's so much sport going on over Christmas that it can be hard to keep track of as one day rolls into the next and you start to mould into your couch. But don't worry because we have it all compiled for you right here. If you want to read our complete sporting TV guide, you can do so here.

Friday, December 22nd

Football: The Christmas fixture list kicks off with the clash of Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates. (Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm – kick off: 7.45pm).

Darts: It's not Christmas without the darts and Friday's schedule looks particularly tasty with the likes of Ian White and Vincent van der Voort in action during the afternoon session before Michael van Gerwen takes to the stage in the evening session. (Sky Sports Arena 12.30pm-4.30pm and 7pm-11pm).

Saturday, December 23rd

Football: For your lunchtime viewing you have a choice to make between Everton and Chelsea (Sky Sports Main Event from 11.30am – kick off: 12.30pm) or Real Madrid and Barcelona (Sky Sports Football from 11.30am – kick off: 12pm).

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There are six 3pm kick offs on Saturday with Manchester City v Bournemouth the live game avaiable in Ireland (Sky Sports Premier League from 2.55pm) while the other games are: Brighton v Watford, Southampton v Huddersfield, Stoke v West Brom, Swansea v Crystal Palace and West Ham v Newcastle.

Think that’s a lot? Well there are still two more games to come. In the evening kick off Burnley meet Tottenham (BT Sport 1 from 5pm – kick off: 5.30pm) before a special eve of Christmas Eve clash between Leicester and Manchester United (Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm – kick off: 7.45pm).

And, if you miss anything, you can catch up on all of the day’s Premier League highlights on Match of the Day (BBC1 from 10.30pm).

Rugby: Connacht and Ulster get the Pro14 round of Irish derbies underway at the Sportsground (TG4 from 7.15pm, BBC2 from 7.30pm – kick off 7.45pm). Tickets can still be purchased here. Elsewhere, Treviso v Zebre (3pm) and Edinburgh v Glasgow (5.30pm) meake up the other two games.

Racing: The pick of the day's racing is at Ascot which includes the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle (TV3, ITV4 from 1.30pm).

Darts: It's another two-session day at the Alexandra Palace with James Wade's conquerer Keegan Brown playing in the early session while Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld are both among the later starters (Sky Sports Arena 1pm-5pm and 7pm-11pm).

Sunday, December 24th

Rugby: Christmas Eve is one of the quieter days of sport over the Christmas week but you can get your rugby fix with the Premiership clash of Leicester and Saracens (BT Sport 1 from 2.30pm – kick off: 3pm).

GOAL Mile: Instead of watching the telly why not get out and about and make yourself feel a little bit better about gorging on Christmas Day by taking part in the GOAL Mile. While most of the events take place on the 25th, the first gets underway at Morton Stadium in Santry from 10.30am.

Monday, December 25th

It's Christmas Day so take a day off the live sport and instead relax into whatever sporting documentary or season review it is that you like. A personal recommendation is The Two Escobars – an ESPN 30 for 30 production about football in Colombia during the height of the drug war and how national team captain Andres Escobar (remember him?) got caught up in it, leading to his murder. You won't be disappointed.

GOAL Mile: There are numerous options of GOAL Miles on Christmas Day, Stephen's Day, the 27th, the 30th and New Year's Day all of the details of which can be found here.

Cricket: If you stay up late enough you can catch some live sport with the first day of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England. While the home side have already won the series, Joe Root's tourists will be looking to salvage some pride (BT Sport 1 from 10.30pm).

Tuesday, December 26th

Football: One of the best sporting days of the year kicks off with Tottenham and Southampton (Sky Sports Main Event from 12pm – kick off: 12.30pm).

At 3pm there are six Premier League ties – Bournemouth v West Ham, Chelsea v Brighton, Huddersfield v Stoke, Manchester United v Burnley, Watford v Leicester and West Brom v Everton.

And then, to cap it all of, Liverpool take on Swansea (Sky Sports Main Event from 5pm – kick off: 5.30pm).

Later on you can catch up on all of the day’s action with Match of the Day (BBC1 from 10.45pm).

Rugby: It's the big clash of Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park to whet the appetite on Stephens' Day. Munster announced on Thursday that the ground is now a sellout but you can watch it live on Sky Sports or TG4 (TG4 from 2.45pm, Sky Sports Action from 3pm – kick off: 3.15pm).

There are also two other Stephens’ Day derbys in the Pro14 with Dragons taking on Cardiff (2pm) and Scarlets meeting Ospreys (5.35pm).

Racing: Plenty to choose from here both at home and in the UK. At Leopardstown the first race is off at 12.15pm and features the Racing Post Novice Chase at 2.20pm (tickets can be bought here or at the gate). Live coverage on RTÉ 2 begins at 1pm.

At Limerick the first is away at 12.35pm with the feature race of the maginificently named McMahons Builders Providers - Now Online Store Just Launched Novice Chase (Grade 2) going to post at 2.10pm (tickets can be bought here or at the gate).

At Down Royal the first is away at 12.10pm (tickets can be bought here or at the gate).

Across the water, Kempton is the big draw with the King George VI Chase the standout race at 3.05pm (TV3, ITV from 1pm).

Cricket: It's day two of the fourth Ashes Test. Can England avoid a whitewash? (BT Sport 1 from 11pm).