Blades to kick-off Premier League on June 17 restart
SHEFFIELD UNITED are set to lead the return of Premier League football on June 17.
As one of four teams with a game in hand on the rest, the Blades will take part in the first round of matches since fixtures were suspended for the coronavirus pandemic.
The Blades will travel to Aston Villa on Wednesday, June 17, when Manchester City host Arsenal.
The other 16 teams return at the following weekend, when Sheffield United are at Newcastle United, and the aim is to complete the remaining 90 games by July 26.
The FA Cup final has been earmarked for August 1.
The Blades are in the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they have been drawn at home to rivals Arsenal.
The most recent Premier League match was Leicester City’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa, two days after the Blades beat Norwich City.
Top-flight clubs only returned to group training on May 19, and to contact training yesterday, but “project restart” has been able to move at great pace in the last week because of some highly encouraging coronavirus tests.
There have been 12 positive results in 2,752 tests of Premier League players and staff, and only five from 2,044 in the Championship.
With only two individuals – both from Hull City – found to have the virus in the first wave of Championship testing, Blackburn Rovers captain Elliott Bennett and two un-named Fulham players were confirmed as the latest positive cases when the second wave of results were announced yesterday.
The Premier League is set to increase its testing capacity from 50 to 60 tests per club for its fourth round.
The Football League has set a July 31 deadline to complete its matches, and wants to host playoffs as well as the nine regularseason games all teams have left.
While the majority of Premier League matches are set to be played at their original venues, the police are said to want some high-profile games at neutral venues to prevent supporters gathering outside.
Liverpool are on course to win their first title since 1990.
Sheffield United are on course to secure European qualification for the first time, either through the league or the FA Cup.
Their league matches against fellow European contenders Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea and Everton, as well as their Cup quarter-final, were due to be at Bramall Lane. They are still to play Villa, Newcastle, Manchester United, Burnley, Leicester and Southampton away. Games will be played behind closed doors.
All 92 remaining Premier League matches will be shown live on television, some free to air for the first time. Four will be on the BBC, and 25 of Sky’s 64 games will be freely available. BT and Amazon Prime will also show games, spread across 16 weekly time slots.
Championship clubs returned to training a week later than their Premier League counterparts. Leeds United are keen to play again so they can try to win promotion on the pitch, but so long as the Premier League season is completed, producing three relegation candidates, their chances will be much improved. Marcelo
Bielsa’s team are top of the Championship, seven points ahead of the play-off places.
Barnsley are bottom, hoping to make up the seven-point gap to Hull, who oppose a resumption. Middlesbrough and Huddersfield Town are within three points of the relegation zone.
Rotherham United are in League One’s second automatic promotion spot, and would remain there if the table was decided on points-per-game, which is the Football League’s preference. Doncaster Rovers and League Two Bradford City would miss out on their play-offs.
While fourth-tier clubs have agreed to abandon their season, apart from the play-offs, League One is yet to reach agreement. Some fear a decision could be delayed until a week on Monday, meaning clubs such as Doncaster will have to decide whether to unfurlough players, test them at their own expense, and get them back into training for a resumption that may not happen.