How will the near six-week break for the 2022 World Cup impact the 20 Premier League clubs when they get back to action beginning on Boxing Day? We’ll soon find out with a round of 10 matches played between December 26-28.
Teams off to strong starts to their 2022/23 campaign will hope that the stoppage didn’t halt their momentum. League leaders Arsenal, who lost star striker Gabriel Jesus to a World Cup injury, will get to prove it on Boxing Day when they host West Ham. The break will have offered the Hammers a chance to reset after their early struggles find them near the bottom of the table.
The coaches who took over before or during the first part of the 2022/23 season likely welcomed the extra time to work on the training field. Manchester United (Erik ten Hag), Brighton (Roberto De Zerbi), Chelsea (Graham Potter), Aston Villa (Unai Emery), Bournemouth (Gary O’Neil), Southampton (Nathan Jones), and last-place Wolves (Julen Lopetegui) are hoping to see the fruit of their six weeks of uninterrupted labor as they get set to face a busy holiday schedule of matches.
As with every week, Premier League fans in the United States have the luxury of having every single match available to watch across NBC’s various broadcast and streaming platforms. The Sporting News breaks down all you need to know about watching the December 26-28 slate of Premier League action in the USA:
MORE: Updated Premier League table and top scorers list
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | TV/Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Brentford vs. Tottenham | 7:30 a.m. | USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Southampton vs. Brighton | 10 a.m. | Peacock |
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Leicester City vs. Newcastle | 10 a.m. | USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Crystal Palace vs. Fulham | 10 a.m. | Peacock |
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Everton vs. Wolves | 10 a.m. | Peacock |
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Aston Villa vs. Liverpool | 12:30 p.m. | USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
| Mon, Dec. 26 | Arsenal vs. West Ham | 3 p.m. | Telemundo, fuboTV, Peacock |
| Tue, Dec. 27 | Chelsea vs. Bournemouth | 12:30 p.m. | USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
| Tue, Dec. 27 | Man United vs. Nott’m Forest | 3 p.m. | USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
| Wed, Dec. 28 | Leeds United vs. Man City | 3 p.m. | USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
How to watch the Premier League in the USA
- Dates: Aug. 6, 2022-May 28, 2023
- TV channels: NBC, USA Network
- Spanish-language TV: Telemundo, Universo
- Streaming: Peacock, NBCSports.com (authenticated cable, satellite & telco subscribers), fuboTV
Premier League matches can be seen in the United States across NBC’s various broadcast and streaming platforms.
High-profile matches will be aired in English on NBC’s flagship station, available to all households in the country over free-to-air television, or USA Network. Spanish-language broadcasts are carried on Telemundo and Universo.
The rest of the slate is sent to NBC’s streaming platform Peacock, which requires a premium subscription to access.
How to watch USA Network
USA Network can be found on most cable and satellite packages, including:
- AT&T U-verse HD: Channel 1125
- Charter Spectrum HD: Channel 760
- Comcast XFINITY TV HD: Channel 823
- Cox Communication HD: Channel 1028
- DirecTV HD: Channel 242
- DISH Network HD: Channel 105
- Time Warner Cable HD: Channel 55, 101
- Verizon FiOS: Channel 550
Channel listings may vary by market, and could be updated by the provider to a different channel at any time.
USA Network is also available via most streaming services, including:
- fuboTV
- YouTube TV
- Sling TV (Blue package)
- Hulu + Live TV
- DirecTV Stream
Subscribers to fuboTV will be able to stream matches as usual that air on USA Network, NBC network, Telemundo and Universo.
What happened to NBCSN?
NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua first announced the shutdown of NBCSN to employees in a memo on January 22, 2021, and then formally made it public later in the year.
NBC has been tight-lipped on the exact reason why NBCSN is being shut down, only calling it “part of a larger transition” in the internal memo.
It’s widely speculated that the shutdown of NBCSN is part of the company’s desire to push more sports content to its Peacock streaming service, hoping to entice fans to pay for a monthly subscription.
The network was first launched in 1995 as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), carrying mainly outdoor sports, and then was rebranded to Versus (2006) with the acquisition of other sports properties, before ultimately becoming NBCSN in 2012.
MORE: Who are the promoted sides in the Premier League in 2022-23?
Who is commentating Premier League matches?
The main play-by-play commentator for NBC’s Premier League coverage in the 2022-23 season is Peter Drury.
Drury is in his first season as lead commentator for NBC’s Premier League coverage, replacing Arlo White who was not re-signed after the expiration of his contract. White was the lead commentator for NBC’s Premier League coverage since the inception of NBC’s rights deal with the Premier League in 2012.
The 54-year-old Drury is considered one of the top soccer commentators in the world, having called FIFA, UEFA, and other top competitions since the mid-1990’s. Drury began his career at BBC Radio Leeds in 1990 where he called Leeds United games during the club’s run of European competition.
Premier League break for World Cup 2022
The Premier League went on a near six-week break from November 14 through December 25 to make way for the 2022 FIFA World Cup played in Qatar.
The Premier League season paused after Matchweek 16, which concluded on November 13, 2022.
The 2022 World Cup began on Sunday, November 20 and wrapped up on December 18 with Argentina defeating France in the final.
The Premier League slate restarted on December 26, 2022, the day after Christmas, and all the remaining rounds in the 2022/23 season will wrap up by Sunday, May 28, 2023.
Who won the Premier League in 2021-22?
Manchester City are defending champions of the Premier League in England, having won the title on the last day of the season.
Pep Guardiola led the club to its second straight league title in dramatic fashion, defeating Aston Villa 3-2 on the final day of the campaign to secure the title, finishing two points above challengers Liverpool.
The Reds, meanwhile, came up just short, having pushed Man City to the brink in league play. Liverpool also fell just short in the Champions League, falling to Real Madrid in the final. The Reds did, however, take home the FA Cup and EFL Cup trophies.
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