Sheffield United host Leicester City as headliners on New Year’s Day (5:30 p.m. GMT) and will hope to make a spectacle of it.
It’s been more than two decades since Bramall Lane saluted action on the first day of the year and the last time it did so things didn’t go the home side’s way.
The Blades will enter the new year determined to move closer to the play-offs, while the Foxes hope to accomplish the same mountainous task with a potential points deduction looming – but can either team start 2026 with a bang?
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Sheffield United have lost each of their last three home league matches against Leicester City, with their worst home defeat coming against the Foxes.
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Leicester City were beaten 3-2 by Sheffield United at the King Power earlier this season and could lose home and away to the Blades in a Championship campaign for the first time since 2007-08.
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This will be Sheffield United’s first league match played at home on New Year’s Day since 2005, a 2-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic in the league. Since then, each of their eight matches played on January 1 have been away (1 win, 3 draws, 4 losses).
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Leicester City are unbeaten in their last eight league matches played on New Year’s Day, winning seven of them (D1), the longest active run of any team in England’s top four tiers – their last such match was in 2024, beating Huddersfield 4-1 at the King Power Stadium.
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Sheffield United’s Patrick Bamford has been directly involved in seven goals in his last eight league matches in the month of January (5 goals, 2 assists), including a goal and two assists for Leeds United against Leicester City in 2021.
