Premier League Restarts tomorrow: Everything you need to know

The Premier League will resume on Wednesday, the 17th of June 2020 with the first of 92 games to be played behind closed doors over the next six weeks.

The league restarts after one hundred days since Leicester City hammered Aston Villa 4-0 on the 9th of March.

The League had to be suspended due to the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus and relegation-threatened Aston Villa’s home match with Sheffield United marks the restart of the 2019-20 season.

And while Liverpool, who lead the table by 25 points, is all but certain to be crowned champions of England for the first time in 30 years, there are lots of other issues to be resolved.

Injury Updates

Many teams have been given a boost as regards key players out due to injury all but thanks to the suspension of the League due to COVID-19. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has afforded players an extended time to recover and be back in time for the remainder of the season. We would highlight the players who are back from injury and could make a return for their respective sides from the top sides in the Premier League.

Arsenal

On-loan Southampton full-back Cedric Soares now have the chance to earn a permanent switch after making a full recovery from a knee injury that has kept him sidelined throughout his time at the Emirates.

Lucas Torreira, who faced a long period out with an ankle injury sustained in the FA Cup win over Portsmouth, which seemed like he had played his last game this season when he was ruled out for 10 weeks on March 9, has also been able to resume light training following a fracture of the fibula. He is now expected to play his part.

Full-backs Kieran Tierney who had been lacking match fitness, and Sead Kolasinac, out due to a shoulder injury, are also now available. There is even an outside chance that Calum Chambers who suffered a knee injury could be fit should the season spill into August.

Chelsea

Frank Lampard’s side, who seemed to have found a rhythm before the shutdown, knocking Liverpool out of the FA Cup despite having quite a number of injury concerns, now have a chance to even be better with positive injury news from the side.

N’Golo Kante (groin), Tammy Abraham (ankle), Callum Hudson-Odoi (hamstring), and Mateo Kovacic (Achilles) have been training as normal.

Christian Pulisic (thigh), Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Andreas Christensen (match fitness) have also returned to training.

Marco van Ginkel (knee) has stepped up his fitness after a two-year lay-off while Jorginho still has to complete the second part of a two-game suspension following his 10th yellow card.

It seems like Frank Lampard now has virtually a full squad to choose ahead of the league resumption tomorrow.

Liverpool

Goalkeeper Alisson missed the games against Bournemouth and the Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid after he sustained a hip injury but the Brazilian will take his place in the side once more.

Captain Jordan Henderson missed the last four Premier League games with a hamstring injury but is back in training alongside fellow midfielder Naby Keita (hip).

Xherdan Shaqiri has only made six league appearances this season owing to a persistent calf injury but the Swiss winger will hope to feature in some capacity during the remaining games.

Nathaniel Clyne is entering the last month of his contract. The right-back has missed the entire season with an ACL injury meaning it is likely he has played his last Liverpool game.

Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson did not feature in the 6-0 friendly win over Blackburn last week but the club said there were no injury concerns surrounding the two players.

Manchester City

City entertains Arsenal tomorrow and Pep Guardiola will have a full fit squad to choose from with Aymeric Laporte (hamstring) and Leroy Sane (knee) now available.

Manchester United

Many have been left to wonder how the side would feature once Paul Pogba is back. Well, that is about to happen as Paul Pogba (ankle) looks to return to the side after he and Marcus Rashford (back) featured in the behind-closed-doors friendly with West Brom.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah had lacked match fitness following an ACL injury prior to the shutdown while Daniel James (also match fitness), Harry Maguire (ankle), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (back) and Diogo Dalot (unspecified) are also ready to hit the ground running once more.

Tottenham

Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko, and Steven Bergwijn have all recovered from their long-term injuries but Jose Mourinho is uncertain how long it will be before they play once football does return.

The club’s captain, Hugo Lloris, is fit after recovering from a nasty elbow dislocation earlier this season. Heung-Min Son is back following his own arm injury while Dele Alli will serve a one-match suspension.

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Battle for European spots

Liverpool FC leads the Premier League table with 25 points and is almost guaranteed the Premier League title and a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League but the remaining spots for Europe’s elite competitions are still up for grabs.

Manchester City occupies the second position with 57 points and a game in hand with Leicester City breathing down their necks with just 4 points adrift.

Mathematically, all teams in the top 10 positions still have a chance to fight for a European berth should any team falter.

And with the remainder of the season to be played behind closed doors, a lot could still happen before the season is concluded. Make no mistake, there are still plenty of twists and turns to negotiate. With teams going through the motions simply in order not to have to repay a portion of that television cash. There’s still plenty at stake.

Additional Substitutions

Over concerns that players won’t be quite up to full fitness and thus injuries may be more easily sustained, the football governing body, FIFA, has agreed that a team can name nine substitutes (up from seven) and can make five substitutions per game, two more than normal.

However, to guard against sides wasting time by making pointless substitutions that only serve to wind down the clock, a team can only stop the game for substitutions on three occasions during the 90 minutes.

Neutral grounds still an option

The idea of staging certain matches at neutral grounds has always been a live issue with the authorities keen to avoid large crowds of fans congregation outside stadiums while games were in progress.

Several matches have been earmarked to be held at a third stadium throughout the negotiations and preparations for the Premier League’s Project Restart.

Transfer window

The 2020 Premier League summer transfer window is set to be like nothing that’s gone before as the coronavirus outbreak continues to change the football landscape.

The summer market was set to return to its traditional end date following a vote from the top-flight clubs earlier this year but we might have a change as top-flight chief executive Richard Masters has confirmed the window will not open until the season ends on 26 July 2020. There is currently no official date announced for when the window will close.

Reports claim that FIFA is holding talks with clubs about keeping the next transfer window open for longer to help out football financially.

It is said the 2020 summer window could remain open until JANUARY as spending on transfers is expected to fall when the season eventually ends.

Keeping the window open for longer would help teams recover and then look at signing players once more.

The situation surrounding the transfer window is evolving day-by-day as world football continues to get to grips with the impacts of coronavirus.