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‘Eyes of the world’ on Premier League restart
Live Saturday afternoon matches that the Premiership had banned from being televised to protect stadium ticket sales will be shown because the rest of the season is behind closed doors.
English Premier League, the world richest football competition, returns on Wednesday after 100 days.
There are still 92 matches left but Liverpool are on the brink of winning their first title in a radically changed football universe. The English top flight league follows Germany’s Bundesliga and La Liga in Spain in rebooting seasons by cramming matches in six weeks.
Aston Villa kick off against Sheffield United, to be followed on Wednesday by Manchester City-Arsenal as the league tries to minimise the financial damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Live Saturday afternoon matches that the Premiership had banned from being televised to protect stadium ticket sales will be shown because the rest of the season is behind closed doors. However, instead of eerie silence, there will be piped sound; instead of empty seats, cardboard cut-outs of supporters and live video fan walls.
CHANGED FEEL
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has recovered from Covid-19, admitted motivation will be a problem without the fans. “The game is different,” he said. “The intensity drops a little bit. That urgency from the crowd doesn’t exist anymore, how passionate the crowds are in England. We have to find ways to motivate our players.”
Despite complaints from some clubs and stars including Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling, “Project Restart” has largely gone off smoothly, with regular testing of players and staff yielding few positives cases.
About 300 people will be allowed in stadiums for each match. Changing rooms, dugouts, match balls, goalposts, corner flags and substitution boards will be regularly disinfected. Barring players and coaching staff, all on team benches must wear face covering. Players have been told to maintain physical distancing during goal celebrations and encouraged not to spit.
Fixture congestion, warm temperatures and a lack of preparation time could lead to more injuries, so world body Fifa has green lighted five substitutions. Some, such as Villa manager Dean Smith, believe that unfairly helps teams with bigger squads.
‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’
Players’ names on the back of their shirts will be replaced with ‘Black Lives Matter’ for the first 12 matches as a show of solidarity with trans-Atlantic protests after George Floyd’s death in USA. The league will also back anyone who takes a knee before or during games.
But when the time came to vote on restarting the Premier League, no black chief executives or chairmen were involved. Because there aren’t any.
Paul Elliott, the former Chelsea player now chairing the English Football Association’s Inclusion Advisory Board, told AP: “The knee and the solidarity behind that will eventually phase out. But the problem is still going to be here with us.”
This season, a game was paused for the first time for warnings about racial abuse in the stands when Tottenham hosted Chelsea in December. About 30% of footballers in the Premiership are black.
REDS ALERT
When the campaign was halted on March 13, Liverpool were two wins from their first English title in 30 years. Juergen Klopp’s side, 25 points clear at the top, could be champions at the weekend if second-placed City lose on Wednesday and the Reds resume by winning the Merseyside derby against Everton on Sunday.
Whenever they clinch that long-awaited 19th league title, it will be a moment to treasure. But, with fans barred and no trophy parade planned, celebrations are likely to feel surreal. “Of course, it would feel different because if you win any trophy and receive it without any fans there, it would be pretty strange,” Jordan Henderson told BBC.
Klopp’s men can also break two of City’s most cherished records: they need 19 points from the remaining 27 to beat the Manchester club’s total of 100 points in 2017-18 and they could also better City’s record title-winning margin of 19 points from the same campaign.
Chelsea and Manchester United will try to hold off unexpected challenges from Sheffield and Wolves in the race for Champions League berths. At the other end, Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth will try to climb out of the bottom three.
HEALED AND READY
A clutch of players will be raring to go after lengthy spells on the sidelines due to injuries. Such as England striker Harry Kane (ruptured tendon) and his Spurs teammate Son Heung-min (broken arm) and the Manchester United pair of Paul Pogba (ankle) and Marcus Rashford (back).
Clubs stand to lose around £1 billion after lockdown halted football, according to top accounting firm Deloitte. One way they can recover is by reaching viewers who wouldn’t normally pay as much as £60 a month for all the action. Broadcasters will introduce two new features to enhance coverage, allowing viewers to watch with friends online and chat with them during the match.
