Western Morning News (Saturday)
Premier League all set to complete disrupted season
THE Premier League is planned to get going once more in just a few weeks’ time with the action getting back under way as part of Project Restart.
The first two matches when the top flight resumes are planned to be Sheffield United against Aston Villa at Villa Park, while Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium to play Manchester City.
A full round of fixtures is due to take place over the following weekend as all teams will at that stage have nine Premier League matches left to play.
Training will be ramped up over the coming weeks as teams prepare for the top flight’s resumption, now that they have a date to work towards.
Now that the top flight’s return has been announced, here’s some approximate dates to bear in mind over the coming months regarding the completion of the 2019/20 campaign:
■ June 17 – The Premier League is planned to resume on this date with two matches – Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Arsenal v Manchester City.
These two matches are games in hand for the sides in question and, when fulfilled, all teams in the top flight will be on 29 games played with nine still to take place.
■ June 20 – After the midweek fixtures, the first full set of resumed fixtures will take place over this weekend, behind closed doors with supporters watching from home on TV, as all remaining games are due to be televised through various broadcasters such as Sky Sports, BT Sport and the BBC.
■ June 27 – Not long after the resumption of the Premier League, the FA Cup quarter-finals are due to take place.
Leicester City play Chelsea, Sheffield United welcome Arsenal to Bramall Lane. Newcastle United will play Manchester City, and Premier League bottom side Norwich City host Manchester United at Carrow Road.
■ July 11 – The FA Cup semi-finals are due to be played over this weekend, with both games being held at Wembley.
■ July 25-26 – The final weekend of Premier League fixtures is due to take place, with confirmation on the pitch rather than a points-pergame model of the champions – which is overwhelmingly likely to be Liverpool – those teams who will play in European competitions in the new campaign, and those sides to be relegated to the Championship.
■ August 1 – The FA Cup final is pencilled in to take place a week after the Premier League season comes to a close, with the match guaranteed to be an all-top flight affair at Wembley.
■ August 26-29 – According to reports in the press, these are the dates in mind for the finals of UEFA’s club cup competitions: the Champions League and the Europa League.
When the knockout rounds in both competitions will be played is yet to be confirmed, though fans of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Wolves will be interested in this.
■ September 12 – Though there is no confirmed date for when the 2020/21 campaign will begin, The Times reports that the new season would have to commence not long after the current one is concluded, with a break of a fortnight after the UEFA club cup competitions have been completed.
The 2020/21 season would also need to be finished before the European Championships begins, which is due to start on June 11, next year.