Proximity to the Liverpool title, problems of giants from London and empty stands: what you need to know about the resumption of the Premier League season

Empty stands and a call against racism on t-shirts

June 17 in England, the last of the leading European football countries, the current season will resume. On Wednesday, two postponed matches of the 28th round of the Premier League will take place, and one of them is guaranteed to attract the attention of the whole world. Arsenal, which has not yet lost the chances of winning the Manchester City title, will risk being left without a ticket to the European Cup following the results of the current national championship.

Following the teams will spend 90 matches in the remaining nine rounds in just 38 days. The preliminary date for the end of the Premier League season is July 26. FA Cup Final will be held on August 1. At the same time, the first 12 matches of the championship will be played by football players with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” (“Life of Black People”) put on T-shirts, which was widely used during protests in the USA.

So far, the Premier League calendar has officially been finalized until July 2, inclusive. Until this day, matches will be held almost daily and football fans will be able to see in this the similarities with the NHL and the NBA. The dates of the remaining tours are conditionally indicated so far. However, in general, the leadership of the league will try at first not to overburden the players. So, the leading Liverpool will play against Everton on July 21, and Crystal Palace on the 24th, but then receive a week-long break.

Regarding the epidemiological situation in the Premier League, football players, coaches and club staff continued to take positive tests for coronavirus less than a week before the restart of the season. So, on June 14, according to the results of the next wave of testing, two patients were identified. One of them is an unnamed Norwich player who, according to media reports, had taken part in a friendly match with Tottenham the day before.

And the control meeting between Manchester United and Stoke City was completely canceled due to the discovery of the coronavirus by the head coach of the latter, Michael O'Neill.

As a result of tests that took place on June 8–9, one person passed a positive test for COVID-19 in the Premier League; on the 1-2, a patient was found in Tottenham Hotspur. And on May 25-26, four new cases were revealed at once. In particular, the Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale fell ill.

It is not surprising that the leadership of English football is in no hurry to return fans to stadiums, unlike other countries. The head of the Premier League, Richard Masters, has already said that the matches will be held with the audience only next season. However, according to British media, the Football Association of England plans to gather 20 thousand people for the final of the Cup of the country with a capacity of Wembley Stadium of 70 thousand.

Chewing in the parking lot and the Champion’s Corridor from Manchester City

The issue with the championship in the Premier League is almost resolved. Liverpool has a 25-point advantage over Manchester City, the runner-up, and almost secured the first victory in the national championship in 30 years.

The main intrigue is when exactly the wards of Jürgen Klopp guarantee themselves gold. In the event of the defeat of City by Arsenal in the postponed match of the 28th round, the Merseysiders can do this already on Sunday in the derby with Everton.

According to the British press, in this case, the team may have to celebrate the championship in temporary buildings in the parking lot near the Goodison Park stadium. Football players may be prohibited from celebrating success in the locker room so that they do not violate the rules of social distance.

At the same time, on July 2, an in-person duel between Liverpool and Manchester City will take place. According to media reports, the “citizens” football players are ready to organize an “champion corridor” in the event that the guests by that time become unattainable.

As for Liverpool, it can break several records of Man City itself: in terms of the number of points scored (100, Liverpool 79), the number of wins (32, Liverpool 26) and the maximum separation from second place (19, at Liverpool - 25).

A new tale from Leicester and the battle for the last ticket to the Champions League

The issue with the owners of the two remaining sets of medals was practically resolved. Silver should not be missed by Manchester City, which is four points ahead of Leicester and has a match in reserve.

In turn, the foxes have a comfortable five-point handicap in front of Chelsea and an eight-point handicap in front of Manchester United. True, in the remaining matches the team, which is located on the third line, is still expecting away meetings with Arsenal and Tottenham.

A forced pause is likely to benefit only Leicester, who regularly lost points at the beginning of the year. In 2020, Brendan Rogers wards won only three victories in the championship with two draws and four defeats. A break will help the team recover and for the second time in history to break into the Champions League.

But for the last ticket to the Champions League, the fight will go all the way to the finish line. So far the fourth is Chelsea, but Manchester United are breathing in the back of Londoners. At the same time, the schedule for the final part of the season for the wards of Ole Gunnar Solskher is simpler.

Of the teams in the top ten, they only have to meet with “Tottenham”, “Sheffield United” and “Leicester”. Chelsea will have to play with Liverpool, Manchester City, Wolves and the same Sheffield. The Mancunians will try to do everything possible so as not to be left without the main European Cup in the second season in a row.

The failure of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur and the sensational takeoff of Sheffield United

Only one team initially gets a ticket to the Europa League following the results of the Premier League season, but their number may increase to two if the FA Cup wins a team that already breaks into European competitions.

In the meantime, in addition to Manchester United, two main openings of the current Premier League season are claiming - Wolverhampton and Sheffield United, with 43 points each. The take-off of the last team is especially surprising, because a year ago she played in the Championship, and at the moment she takes 19th place in terms of the cost of rosters among all the Premier League clubs.

This does not prevent the wards of Chris Wilder not only fight for getting into the top 5 of the Premier League, but also continue to fight for the FA Cup. In the quarter-finals of the tournament, Sheffield will meet with Arsenal. Thus, a modest team has an excellent opportunity for the first time in history to break into the European competition.

But two metropolitan grandees - Arsenal and Tottenham - on the contrary, run the risk of not getting into them. “Spurs” last season reached the Champions League final, and this year survived the departure of Mauricio Pochettino. Under the leadership of the succeeding Argentinean Jose Mourinho, the Londoners sank to eighth place and are seven points behind the fourth line. Moreover, they have already taken off from the FA Cup.

“Tottenham” can only rely on a successful performance in the Premier League, but the lag of the team even from fifth place is four points. At the same time, the calendar of the remaining games for Londoners is not easy. They are still waiting for home meetings with Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester, and an away match with Sheffield United. 

Arsenal is located in the Premier League standings line below. The Gunners may well for the first time in 25 years not get into the top 10 nuclear submarines. Along the way, they completed their performance in the Europa League, losing to Olympiacos in the 1/16 final stage. The only hope of the team of Mikel Arteta for getting into European competitions is a victory in the FA Cup.

It will be very interesting to observe the struggle for survival, because practically the only closure of the Norwich table has practically lost the chance to escape. Nine rounds to the finish line, he is six points behind the saving 17th place.

But “Aston Villa”, occupying the 19th line, is separated from the 15th by only four points. Thus, at least five teams will lead the battle in order not to fall into the Championship: Brighton and Hove Albion, West Ham United, Watford, Bournemouth and Aston Villa. Such a high density at the bottom of the tournament table is guaranteed to give the mentioned teams an exorbitant level of motivation until the last round.

Vardi's Second Youth and De Bruyne's Path to Record

Not only does Arsenal run the risk of not getting into European competitions, it may also remain without one of the team’s leading players - Pierre-Emerick Obameyang. In the current season of the Premier League, the Gabon scored 17 goals and is fighting for the title of top scorer.

The striker’s contract with the club expires at the end of June next year, but there is no official information on its extension. According to Obameyang himself, the Londoners did not offer him to prolong the agreement. 

Last season, Pierre-Emerick was already becoming the top scorer of the Premier League. Then, having scored 22 goals, he shared this title with two Liverpool players, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. In the current Premier League draw, the Gabonese are two precise hits ahead of Jamie Vardi from Leicester. The 33-year-old veteran is close to breaking his own performance record of 24 goals. 

But the best assistant to the Premier League for the third time could be Kevin De Bruyne. Previously, he was awarded this title for the seasons 2016/17 (18 assists) and 2017/18 (16). In the current draw, the Belgian has 16 productive passes and he can break a personal record. In just five years in England, he gave 61 assists in the national championship.