In-form Watford will get the Boxing Day festivities up and running, while high-flying West Ham will bring the curtain down on the Championship action.
Saints host Eagles; Boro face Tigers; Hammers go to Blues
In-form Watford will get the Boxing Day festivities up and running, while high-flying West Ham will bring the curtain down on the Championship action.
Elsewhere, leaders Southampton will be looking to get back to winning ways, Hull City will be hoping their productive run continues against fellow top-two hopefuls and Coventry will go in search of a relegation lifeline.
All 24 sides in the second tier will be on show on Monday, with kick-off times staggered over the course of a hectic day.
Watford and
Cardiff hold the honour of getting the post-Christmas fixtures underway at midday, with the Hornets looking to stretch their six-match unbeaten run and halt former manager Malky Mackay's promotion push.
Table-topping
Southampton are in action at one o'clock, with the Saints going in search of a first win in four outings when they welcome
Crystal Palace to the South Coast.
Rivalries
Old rivalries will be rekindled when
Derby play host to
Leeds, with the Rams in need of a welcome pick-me-up against a Whites outfit that are better on the road than they are at home.
Millwall are precariously perched just above the drop zone, but can drag
Portsmouth back towards the second tier trapdoor with victory at The Den.
The pick of the three o'clock games sees third-placed
Middlesbrough entertain fourth-placed
Hull City, with the Tigers set to arrive on Teesside on the back of four straight successes.
Four wins in five have taken
Reading to the fringe of the play-off places and they will want to clamber into the top six when they take on a
Brighton side that have suffered back-to-back defeats.
Burnley have also taken 12 points from the last 15 available and can close further on the promotion-chasing pack when they face struggling
Doncaster at Turf Moor.
Habit
Blackpool have drawn far too many games of late and Ian Holloway will be keen to see them rediscover the winning habit when they travel to
Barnsley.
Leicester continue to struggle for consistency and will need to be wary of an
Ipswich outfit that have responded positively to their recent slump.
Nottingham Forest have failed to score in their last five, but they will fancy their chances of breaching a far from watertight
Peterborough back four.
Coventry and
Bristol City will lock horns in a basement battle at the Ricoh Arena, with the rock-bottom hosts desperate to break an 11-match winless run.
Monday's action comes to a close in front of the Sky Sports cameras, with
Birmingham and
West Ham going head-to-head in a fixture which graced the Premier League last season.
