Everything You Need To Know As Football Returns
Project Restart, the season’s official recommencement has been set, and with less than a week left we give you the lowdown on what fixtures to look out for, the experience and effect of games without fans, and the implication of a shortened schedule on the players and teams.
Coronavirus delay
The last Premier League game to be played was on the 9th March of this year, and as a result, we’ve had no top-flight English football for over 3 months, meaning no football for 100 days – not far off the record of 104 days between games in the Premier League era.
Under the circumstances, it’s understandable that with restrictions placed on mass gatherings, live football would be impossible meaning the future of the season would be thrown into uncertainty. 3 months later though we have sight of what fans have been so eagerly craving for, Premier League football is back!
Despite Liverpool having one hand on the Premier League trophy already, the season itself still has many questions left to answer.
If the season hadn’t restarted we would still face the difficult decision of how to determine which teams would get the remaining European spots and which teams would get relegated, as suggestions such as average points per game, and weighted points for home and away fixtures were mooted as potential resolutions.
This has been the case for League One and League Two where points per game method meant that Coventry City and Swindon Town have been crowned champions and Rotherham, Crewe and Plymouth are also promoted from their respective leagues as the teams in the relegation zone will be heading down – a voted was held by the clubs to determine these outcomes.
The play-offs are set to be played at a later date to determine the final promoted teams.
Project Restart
Thankfully the powers that be have been able to schedule the first Premier League fixtures, which will be begin on the 17th June and will be held in fanless stadiums between the teams still with a game in hand; Aston Villa and Sheffield United (18:00), and Manchester City and Arsenal (20:15), both to be shown live on Sky Sports.
The next round of fixtures will begin on the 19th of June.
Liverpool’s first game against Everton at Goodison Park has been confirmed for the 21st June with decisions on security and logistics being made only recently confirming that the game can viably be held in the city.
Liverpool can potentially then win the league in the following round of fixtures if Manchester City drop points.
Big games tentatively set:
- Manchester City vs. Arsenal – 17/06/20
- Tottenham vs. Manchester United – 19/06/20
- Everton vs. Liverpool – 21/06/20
- Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace – 24/06/20
- Chelsea vs. Manchester City – 25/06/20
- Sheffield United vs Tottenham – 02/07/20
- Manchester City vs Liverpool – 02/07/20
There are also tough games for the likes of Brighton, West Ham, Watford, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich who all face the threat of being relegated.
The Championship also returns on the 20th June with fixtures between Fulham and Brentford (12:30). There are 9 rounds of fixtures remaining and despite Leeds and West Brom’s dominance, it’s all to play for with playoff places still up for grabs with several teams in the bottom half only a couple of wins behind.
Health and Injuries
Questions will be asked about the health of players, several rounds of Corona Virus testing since the clubs have been back in training have resulted in only a handful of positive cases.
Generally, the health of the players has been good. If a player is anxious about returning, they have been offered the opportunity to restart once they are confident and ready.
There is a real danger that restarting football may lead to all those who facilitate the games being exposed to the virus – an increase in cases would surely result in a proper cancellation.
The fitness of the players will be interesting, muscular injuries are likely – the Bundesliga’s friendlies prior to their restart resulted in 29 injuries of which 62% were muscular.
We’ll see similar injuries when the Premier League restarts as players returning to training will come back in a mix of fitness levels.
The League has also concluded that benches will be increased to 9 players and that a total of 5 substitutes can be used in a game. Deeper squads will surely benefit, but the thought that teams who hold the ball and conserve their fitness throughout the games may not gain the advantage they often do due to oppositions having more opportunities to refresh the eleven on the pitch.
Ultimately every team is in the same boat where matches will be decided by a war of attrition as much as skill or tactics, especially as there will be less rest time between games.
European restarts
The Bundesliga set the precedent for major leagues returning as they’re now in their 6th round of games after the restart which commenced on the 16th May. Bayern are looking strong on 70 points as Dortmund sit on 63.
La Liga also began with the Seville Derby as Sevilla bested Real Betis 2-0. The game was televised with a virtual crowd and virtual fan noise.
View the highlights here https://youtu.be/2Wbz3uJGIWw.
The league is yet to be decided with Barcelona on 58 points and Real Madrid close on 56 with the same number of games played. Atletico Madrid have some work to do to ensure their Champions League spot with Getafe, Real Sociedad and Sevilla sitting above them.
Many of the game times are likely to be pushed as the heat in Spain will not allow for players to play earlier kick-offs – games starting after 10 pm local time are not unusual in Spain but will become more commonplace as the season will finish later in the summer months than usual, other European leagues may also face these dangers.
The Italian League has tentatively set Serie A games to begin on 20th June and it will be a tight race to the finish with Juventus and Lazio only 1 point apart at the top of the table. Coppa Italia also returns today with the second leg of the Juventus AC Milan semi-final first leg ending in a 1-1 draw.
Ligue 1 of France have ended their season with PSG being crowned Champions leaving those connected to Marseille disappointed as they finished second – they were however 12 points behind the rampant Paris who also had a game in hand.
The fate of the Champions League and the Europa League has yet to be confirmed. It has been suggested that the tournaments take place after the domestic seasons have finished and that the two-legged ties are reduced to a single game.
All of the Premier League games will be shown live with Amazon, Sky Sports, BT Sports, and BBC securing rights. Some of the broadcasters will also be giving the option to hear virtual crowd noise (and possibly virtual crowds) to add to the sense of atmosphere which should offer a better experience than watching what might feel like a training match otherwise.
This is an ever-changing situation, game dates and times are likely to change and more surprises are surely in store.
The virus and break in play will cost Premier League clubs an estimated £1bn revenue reduction according to Deloitte, but whether lockdown changes football forever remains to be seen.
You can check out when the remaining fixtures will be played and how to watch them on Daniel Storey’s tweet:
This TV sport schedule now looks pretty, thanks to @michaelsdavies.https://t.co/md8IGfeD3o pic.twitter.com/N4dqMIdtNI
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) June 6, 2020
