Christmas Special! MOTD Kickabout

We are out and about for a more

festive feel to the show. A lot of

treats for you. And an early

Christmas present. That is for you.

Marvellous. Oh no! Manchester

United! Leeds United! That is not

good. Santa has some explaining to

do.

That is better. Good morning and

welcome to a very special edition of

the show. We are feeling very

festive on the Christmas special.

The mince pies have come out and we

have opened some cracking Christmas

presents. And plenty of treats for

you at home. Here is what is coming

up. We revisit some of our favourite

moments from the season so far and

we look ahead to all the football

action coming up next month. Expect

plenty of goals, as chosen by you

over the last few months. And we

catch up with some of the big names

in the Premier League to find out

how they have been enjoying

Christmas so far. Plenty to come but

let's start by checking out the

headline hitters this week.

Monday saw the draw for the last 16

of the Champions League with all

five English teams involved. Chelsea

played Barcelona while Tottenham

face Juventus. Premier League

leaders Manchester City play Basel.

Manchester United face civil. After

a full fixture round-up this week

Manchester City, their winning

streak shows no sign of stopping as

they thrashed Swansea extending

their record-breaking run to 15. Man

United bounced back from Derby day

defeat with a win against

Bournemouth. Chelsea saw off

Huddersfield and Crystal Palace

moved out of the relegation zone for

the first time this season with a

win against Watford. It has been a

busy week and fair to say that the

Christmas period is no different. In

fact your favourite Premier League

clubs are busier than ever with a

whopping 50 games from this

afternoon into early next year. So

to get you prepared for a full few

weeks of football action we're

bringing you a special guide to the

season. These are the 12 football

facts of Christmas. Well-known fact

that at least 12 people at every

football ground dressed up as Santa

Claus when they go to a Boxing Day

match. The top-ranked goal-scorer of

the Premier League Mohamed Salah, a

massive 13 goals are ready for

Liverpool. The last time a full set

of Christmas Day fixtures were

played in the UK was back in 1971 in

Scotland, a massive ten matches

taking place. Robbie Fowler is the

top scoring player in Boxing Day

games. An impressive nine goals.

Eight Gold hit the back of the net

in the highest scoring Premier

League fixture ever on Boxing Day.

An encounter between Chelsea and

Aston Villa. Norwich were seventh of

Christmas Day in 1994. But still

relegated later in the season

winning just twice after the festive

period. Between now and Christmas

day six points up for grabs for each

Premier League team. Since the

beginning of the season we've

already seen five Premier League

manager sacked. Premier League clubs

will play four times over the

Christmas period so that is four

games in ten days for the players.

Will the open of their presence? The

last Premier League game to take

place on Christmas Eve was back in

1995 when Leeds beat Manchester

United 3-1. We need to start playing

football Christmas eve again!

Manchester City have only dropped

two points so far this season. They

currently sit a massive 11 points

clear at the top of the Premier

League table and they are yet to

lose a game. And you guessed it the

English Premier League, teams in

Spain, Italy, France and Germany all

take a lovely winter break. All

right some.

Top stuff. Now no exaggeration to

say many of our favourite moments

this season have come from you guys.

And that is through all the videos

you have sent in. Every week we love

to check out your skills and today

is no different.

Jade and showing some brilliant ball

control here. Juggling forward to

score for his Portsmouth University

football team. And a great save from

Oliver during his trial for Bristol

City. Joe Hart would be proud.

Sunderland fan William with an

amazing top corner volley. And

finally Malachi, a free kick into

the top corner and cheeky crossbar

challenge in the snow to finish.

Brilliant as always. Please keep

your incredible skills coming. You

have loads of time over the festive

period to send in the video. As we

would take a two-week break. So you

never know we could feature you on

our first show back in the New Year.

Some of other have come through the

fantastic players we've featured on

the show. Kyle Walker, Lukaku, to

name a few. When it comes to

interview them no one does it quite

as well as you guys. As I found out

when we had the pitch with star

attacker Anthony Knockaert.

That was

a good free kick.

What a goal!

How did it feel to be the captain of

Brighton during promotion?

Of course

it was really special. It was one of

my best moments in my life.

And good

for you as well, Toby.

Who is the

funniest player? Right there.

That

is what they say but it is not true,

I'm not funny.

Both of these fellows

are budding footballers. Would you

have any advice on how to get better

and kind of progress through the

ranks?

The most important thing is

all about the work and enjoy it as

well.

Especially at your age.

Nothing else, you have to enjoy it

and take it as a game.

Did you remember? You can do this.

This is how it goes. Slowly. Then

you go like this. Outside, two

times. You do like this. Come on.

Yes.

Very good!

Do you remember

again?

Top stuff. Shall we? It needs a bit

of work. Well top players have been

enjoying Christmas facilities.

Premier League teams up and down the

country have been throwing

themselves into the Christmas spirit

as you're about to see from this

lot. Let's give it one go.

Come and get Closer. First we cross

and then we believe.

First we cross

and then we weave.

I do not know

what has happened, boss. The kids

are going to be so upset.

#

Last Christmas I gave you my

heart.

# The very next day you gave it

away...

# An old man said to me, won't see

another one...

What a festive bunch. I'm sticking

with your favourite players we

introduce something new this season,

the online vote. Those of you went

to the website to vote for your

favourite players and we had some

fantastic choices. We couldn't

resist bringing you the best bits

for you to enjoy it right now.

Into

the back of the net, what a beauty.

What a player.

That is absolutely fantastic!

Wayne

Rooney will create history if he

scores.

As decent try, Shaqiri!

What

a strike.

He has done it.

Well hit by Paul Pogba, brilliant

strike.

Dele Alli!

It is in! Eden

Hazard scores for Chelsea.

A super

finish by Kevin De Bruyne.

Exquisite.

Neymar, he scores!

Into

the net. Wonderful.

Ronaldo!

Still

going, Sergio Aguero.

Into the net

by Sergio Aguero.

He left the ball

over Petr Cech to score.

What a set

of goals, love it. One of my

highlights this season has to be the

dream dream pairing with Jamie

Johnson. Let's look back at that

amazing couple of days behind the

scenes on sat.

Earlier this year we teamed up with

Jamie Johnson to bring you guys the

opportunity of a lifetime. The

chance to appear on the show itself.

Hundreds of you sent in your

fantastic skills but only five could

be chosen to start in the final

series. And this visit, the big day

has arrived. Our team about to star

in a dramatised football match in

the third series of Jamie Johnson.

We take a look behind the scenes.

It

has been a fantastic opportunity for

us on Jamie Johnson on the show and

a big part of it is about having

fun. Anyone coming in for the first

time it is just about expressing

yourself and enjoy yourself and not

feeling you have to shut down when

you're being filmed. It is hard work

but we are one big team.

And what a

team we picked to join the Jamie

Johnson Kast today.

I'm a big fan of

Kickabout and watch it every

Saturday. I love it when Jamie

Johnson brings his football skills

onto the show, it is all real.

It is

quite intimidating to see the

cameras but really exciting.

I am a

massive Kickabout fan and in the

back of my mind I kept thinking

about it. I was waiting to hear back

and then it was amazing.

I'm a big

Jamie Johnson fan, I love the drama

and all the skills.

Some people

entered and so for me to be one of

the five to be chosen is crazy.

Feeling.

The biggest challenges for

the final five is patience, you get

called to do things a certain time

and sometimes you could be filmed

without realising it. The big

challenge is being patient and

realising your chance might just

come or of sudden.

I had to wake up

early this morning and we had

breakfast quickly and we had to

leave.

We got our kit and got

changed to go out to where we are

filming.

We had to play a bit of

free play at the end and then a

match play against the Phoenix team.

I enjoyed playing against a team.

One of the things I did not expect

was just how long it took. On TV you

June not get to see how long it

takes. It feels good. I feel proud

of myself.

I tell you what, I'm

proud of them. They have been

filming tricks and skills in their

back garden and have gone from that

to starring in the new series of

Jamie Johnson. I cannot wait to see

it. I've had a really great time and

it has been a great experience.

A

big thank you to Kickabout and Jamie

Johnson, I had a brilliant time.

It

is an amazing opportunity. A long

day but worth it.

I have had a

brilliant couple of days.

I do not

get many opportunities like this so

this is a once in a lifetime

experience for me.

What a fantastic final five

showcasing their skills on the pitch

alongside the Jamie Johnson Kast.

An

amazing couple of days and well done

to all of them.

You were brilliant.

Absolutely and it is you guys

getting involved that makes the

programme so special. Whether taking

part in an opportunity like that or

getting involved on the website, you

guys have been brilliant at getting

involved and keeping in touch this

season. And we cannot wait for

plenty more next year.

And if you're

stuck for inspiration check this

out.

These brothers were lucky

enough to watch their team in the

VIP area and even luckier to meet

striker Yann Kermorgant after the

match.

And this lady is the top

goal-scorer for her team this year

with an incredible 102 goals.

And

Harrison is an incredible fan and

this is something that he designed

himself.

And here is Harry with his

favourite player outside the Etihad

Stadium.

And this massive Norwich

fan is here enjoying a victory

against Sheffield Wednesday.

Superstar from you lot as always.

That is all we have time for this

week but do not despair, plenty to

enjoy over on the website.

It has

been a brilliant year on the show.

We could not have done it without

you at home.

Thank you so much for

getting involved and loads more

fantastic stuff to look forward to

next year. So join us for our first

show on Saturday the 6th of January.

Until then enjoy the festive

football action and from all of us,

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to

everyone watching Match Of The Day

Kickabout. Enjoy all the football

over the festive period and have a

great Christmas.

I just wanted to

wish you a very Merry Christmas and

see you early in the new year.

Merry

Christmas and have an amazing 2018.

That is not the sound of Santa Claus

and his reindeer 's but the sound of

Man City steaming ahead in