WHAT’S AT STAKE
IT WILL be 100 days since the last Premier League match when football restarts on Wednesday. This is what is up for grabs...
PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE
A case of when — not if — Liverpool claim their first championship for 30 years. Confirmation could come at Goodison Park next Sunday should Manchester City slip up against Arsenal on Wednesday. Otherwise, beating Crystal Palace at Anfield the following Wednesday should do it.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Manchester City and Leicester are likely to finish second and third with Chelsea under pressure from Manchester United for fourth. However, fifth place would be enough to qualify if Manchester City’s proposed UEFA ban is upheld, and that would bring Wolves, Sheffield United, Tottenham and Arsenal into play.
RACE FOR EUROPE
Europa League qualification could include eighth place dependent on Manchester City’s UEFA appeal and who wins the FA Cup. That even gives the likes of Burnley, Crystal Palace and Everton something to play for. Sheffield United, currently in seventh, have never played in Europe. They kick off the restarted season against Aston Villa on Wednesday.
BATTLE AGAINST RELEGATION
Four points separate 15th and 19th. Norwich, Aston Villa and Bournemouth are in the bottom three but Villa will leapfrog Watford if they win their game in hand against Sheffield United this week. West Ham are only outside the bottom three on goal difference, with Brighton two points above them.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Leeds and West Bromwich occupy the automatic promotion spots but third-place Fulham are only six points behind Albion and will kick off the restart against Brentford on Saturday lunchtime. Half the division will fancy their play-off chances with QPR in 13th only six points adrift of sixth-placed Preston. Barnsley, Luton and Charlton are in the bottom three. Just above them, Stoke, Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Wigan and Hull will be watching over their shoulders.
LEAGUES ONE AND TWO
The regular season is over with finishing positions determined on a points-per-game basis. The only issues to be resolved are the play-offs, with Wycombe, Oxford, Portsmouth and Fleetwood in League One and Cheltenham, Exeter, Colchester and Northampton in League Two. Stevenage will be relegated from League Two unless Macclesfield are given an extra points deduction for failing to pay their players on time.
THE HEADS-UP FA CUP
New dates have been released for the remaining ties — Saturday June 27 and Sunday June 28 — culminating in a Wembley final on August 1. For clubs such as Newcastle, Leicester, Norwich and Sheffield United, the prospect of lifting a major trophy will be hugely motivating. More usual suspects Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and holders Manchester City make up the rest of the last eight.