Autumn dates to determine NI’S Euro fate
THE Premier League was back with a bang last night after a 100-day lockdown with a heavy dose of controversy but Liverpool are no closer to winning their maiden Premier League title — for now.
A defeat for Manchester City against Arsenal would have given Jurgen Klopp’s side a chance to net the title against Everton on Sunday but goals from Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden sealed a 3-0 win at the Etihad.
In the earlier contest, the operator of the Hawk-eye goal-line technology system apologised after an error denied Sheffield United’s former Northern Ireland international Oliver Norwood a goal in their 0-0 draw at Aston Villa.
NORTHERN Ireland fans now have dates for the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final away to Bosnia & Herzegovina and a possible final showdown with the Republic of Ireland at Windsor Park.
The Bosnia clash in Zenica will take place on Thursday, October 8, with Northern Ireland’s potential final against either the Republic or Slovakia on Thursday, November 12.
Both of those games are due to be played as the first matches in triple-header international windows along with Nations League fixtures. The home game against Austria will now be played on Sunday, October 11 and the away fixture in Norway will be played on Wednesday, October 14.
Defeat to the Bosnians would result in a home friendly on either November 11 or 12.
November’s round of Nations League games are now scheduled for Sunday, November 15 in Austria while the final fixture of the campaign is a home tie against Romania on Wednesday, November 18.
Should Northern Ireland make it through to the Euro 2020 finals, they will still face two matches, as originally scheduled, against Poland (June 14) and Sweden (June 18) at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium before taking on Spain in Bilbao (June 23) in Group E.
The 2021 Uefa Super Cup, a one-off tie between next season’s Champions League and Europa League winners, is still due to be played at Windsor Park.
The Uefa Euro Under-19 Championship is also coming to Northern Ireland later this year and will be played across October and November.