The 2019/20 Premier League season gets back underway this evening after a 3 month interruption due to the public health pandemic.
While a couple of domestic European leagues went quickly to decide the season over and appoint winners and losers the Premier League, like the other European heavyweight leagues, insisted that completing the season must be made by sporting prowess.
Italian, Spanish and German football has already begun - with Bayern Munich yesterday clinching their title in the Bundesliga.
Now attention switches to English football - with two games tonight which are effectively games in hand.
Of interest to Liverpool is the clash between Man City and Arsenal. The reds lead the Premier League by 25 points with 9 games remaining. The reds are currently two victories away from a first domestic title in 30 years.
If those two victories come to pass the club would then hold a remarkable treble of English champions, European champions and World champions.
All 92 games left in the division are expected to be completed within 40 days. The season is expected to conclude on the 26th July.
As well as games being played behind closed doors, the early fixtures will feature a minutes silence before the games for those who have died during the crisis. Clubs kits will also feature a heart shaped badge in honour of care and medical staff and players names will be replaced with 'Black Lives Matter' on the reverse of player shirts.
"I can promise you, we will feel your support. We are still with you and you'll never walk alone" ❤️
How your support from home will be used as motivation during the final run-in ✊
A personal message from Jürgen Klopp... pic.twitter.com/YXnFIpEWEZ
— Liverpool FC (at 🏠) (@LFC) 16 June 2020
Premier League players have undergone arguably the most stringent coronavirus testing process of any workplace. Twice weekly tests have so far found 16 positive results from nearly 9,000 samples. All players and staff have displayed no symptoms.
This is a slightly higher rate than what the government suggest is in the population. As of this week there are believed to be less than 1 in 1,000 of the general population carrying the virus.
Players have been training since May and a number of 'friendly' games have been conducted inside home stadiums to give the players a practice run ahead of the restart.
Liverpool's first game is on Sunday evening at 7pm when they face off at Everton. The game will be shown live in the UK on free to view channel Pick.
Wed 17th June 2020
Aston Villa v Sheffield United (6pm)
Man City v Arsenal (8.15pm)
