The Premier League wheel is back in circulation, starting today, after a pause of about 100 days due to the emerging Corona virus, with a football that changed the epidemic significantly, and amid a headline, which is the expected coronation for Liverpool after waiting for three decades.
It will be the third among the top European continent to return to the stadium without an audience, after the German Bundesliga that returned on May 16, and the Spanish League, last week, to be joined by the Italian League Championship, this weekend, after the game returns to Italy by completing the cup competition before a week.
The remaining 92 matches of the English Premier League season begin this evening with two postponed matches from the 28th stage, the first between Aston Villa and his guest Sheffield United, and the second, and most important, between the defending champions Man City and his guest Arsenal. Starting tomorrow, the 30th stage competitions will start, with the most prominent title being the Liverpool match, and its host, Everton, on Sunday. The result of the City and Arsenal match will be a determining factor in the title track.
Liverpool lead the standings by 25 points, nine stages before the end. In the event of losing City, the team of the German coach, Juergen Klopp, will only need to beat Everton to secure his first title in the England Championship since 1990.
In any case, Liverpool need only two wins from their remaining nine matches to crown, regardless of the results of their City hunt. Although some clubs will resort to several means to compensate for the absence, such as placing fans made of cardboard in the stands, or displaying video tapes across the screens on the field, and even record sounds, but the usual enthusiastic atmosphere in which the English stadiums are famous, will be absent until further notice.
According to the health protocol that will be applied, it will allow the entry of a maximum of 300 people to the stadium, and comprehensive sterilization procedures will be adopted in different places, such as changing rooms, balls, goalposts, corner corners, and switchboards.
Players were asked to avoid direct contact and usual hugging during the scoring celebration, and to avoid spitting on the field. The remainder of the Premier League competitions face various factors in this period, from the relatively high temperature to the short time in which players have been allowed to train and prepare to return. The League will implement what FIFA has authorized, by increasing the number of permissible replacements during the match from three to five, in the hope of avoiding fatigue and increasing risk of physical injury to players.
Players will not be penalized if they show sympathy for the American George Floyd affair, as indicated by the League. Behind Liverpool and City, Leicester City is third, five points behind Chelsea IV, and eight points from Man United Fifth.
The bottom of the table is competing to avoid the last three places, leading to the decline to the first degree. Eight points separate the 15th place from Brighton, and the 20th and the last Norwich City.
• Two games postponed today «Emirates Time»
Aston Villa - Sheffield 21:00
Man City - Arsenal 23:15
Round 30 «June 19»
Norwich - Southampton 21:00
Tottenham - Man United 23:15
Saturday, June 20
Watford - Leicester 15:30
Brighton - Arsenal 18:00
West Ham - Wolves 20:30
Bournemouth - Crystal Palace 22:45
Sunday «June 21»
Newcastle - Sheffield 17:00
Aston Villa - Chelsea 19:15
■ Everton - Liverpool 22:00
Liverpool lead 25 points behind runners-up City, who have a game in hand.
It has become the third major European periodical to resume.