When will the 2019/20 Premier League season resume? Kick-off times, fixture dates and all you need to know as football returns NEXT WEEK
The 2019/20 Premier League season will resume on June 17.
There has been no action in the English top-flight since early March, with all sport put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the Premier League is now gearing up to return, with all 20 clubs welcoming their squads back to full contact training and setting a date for its resumption.
Here’s all you need to know about the restart…
The Premier League season has been majorly affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but it will be played to a conclusion
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When is the Premier League resuming?
‘Project Restart’ was initially planned for June 12, but clubs voted on Wednesday, June 17 for the season to resume – subject to meeting all safety requirements.
Aston Villa will host Sheffield United on that date, while Manchester City will welcome Arsenal.
Those are both rearranged games, and will mean all 20 clubs have played 29 matches heading into the weekend of June 19-21, when the rest of the top-flight will be in action once again.
Players have been back in training since May. Strict social distancing guidelines were in place initially, but clubs have since reintroduced contact training.
There are 92 matches still to play in total and all games will be held behind closed doors.
Have the dates of games been confirmed yet?
The Premier League have announced the dates of the first three rounds of fixtures and which TV channels they will be on.
You can see the full list of games here.
New staggered kick-off times will be used for the remaining matches.
Games on a Friday will kick off at 8pm, while on Saturday the slots will be 12.30pm, 3pm, 5.30pm and 7.45pm.
Sunday matches will kick off at 12pm, 2pm, 4.30pm and 7pm, with Monday games starting at 8pm.
Midweek games on Tuesdays and Wednesday will kick off at either 6pm, 8pm or 8.15pm.
The Etihad Stadium will play host to Man City vs Arsenal in one of the first Premier League games since the coronavirus put football on hold
Will all games be played at the clubs’ own stadiums?
They are due to be played at the clubs’ own stadiums as normal but neutral venues could be used for some ‘key matches’ where it is considered necessary by the emergency services and safety advisory groups, or where games have to be switched due to a localised lockdown.
A league statement on venues read: “The Premier League’s ambition is to complete all of our remaining fixtures this season home and away, where possible.
“We are working with our clubs to ensure risks are assessed and minimised, while cooperating with the police at a local and national level.
“Discussions with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and UK Football Policing Unit have been positive and are continuing. We are prepared for all outcomes and have a neutral-venue contingency.”
Will all the games be on TV and radio?
Yes! All 92 matches will be broadcast live by the Premier League’s partners – Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Amazon Prime.
Meanwhile, the Premier League has confirmed that every remaining match of the 2019/20 season will be available for fans on free to air national radio in the United Kingdom.
Sky will show the majority of the games on TV – 64 in total – with 25 of the games being made free-to-air, including Everton vs Liverpool on the first full weekend back.
BT Sport will show 20 of the games live on their platform.
The BBC will show four live matches, alongside their usual Match of the Day highlight programmes – the first time the channel will televise live Premier League football since the competition’s founding in 1992. Amazon Prime will also have four live matches. Both BBC and Amazon games will be free to aid.
Meanwhile, talkSPORT – as an official radio broadcaster of the Premier League – will bring you a host of live commentaries on the wireless.
Confirmed fixtures on talkSPORT include Watford vs Leicester City, Brighton vs Arsenal, West Ham vs Wolves and Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace on Saturday, June 20; Leicester City vs Brighton and Tottenham vs West Ham on Tuesday, June 23; two exclusive games on Wednesday June 24 and Aston Villa vs Wolves on Saturday, June 27.
Reshmin Chowdhury, Stuart Pearce and Sam Matterface will be back on talkSPORT with GameDay in June
How long has the Premier League been suspended for?
The last Premier League match before the shutdown was Leicester vs Aston Villa on March 9.
Manchester City vs Arsenal was the first Premier League fixture to be postponed on Wednesday, March 11 after Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus.
The following weekend’s top-flight matches were subsequently called off and there has been no action since then.
EFL matches, the FA Cup quarter-finals, Champions League and Europa League games and international fixtures have also been pushed back.
Euro 2020 has been rescheduled for next summer to give domestic leagues the chance to get their seasons finished.
Could the Premier League season still be voided?
That looks extremely unlikely as things stand.
The league are desperate to play the remaining games as the cost of cancelling it could be up to £1billion, according to Masters.
Sky, BT and overseas rights holders have already paid the Premier League for their full season’s broadcast rights, despite a quarter of the campaign left to play. So scrapping the campaign will mean broadcasters will look to recoup millions.
However, there is still a small possibility the season could be scrapped should there be a second wave of the virus or serious safety issues become apparent.
How does the Premier League table look?
Liverpool are way out in front – an incredible 25 points ahead of nearest challengers Manchester City – and are just two wins away from winning the Premier League for the first time.
Leicester are on course to secure Champions League qualification while there is set to be a big battle for the final top four spot, with Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves, Sheffield United, Tottenham and Arsenal all still in with a shot.
At the bottom, Norwich look doomed to relegation, while Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Watford, West Ham and Brighton are all battling for survival.
The Premier League table as it stands
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