Premier League fans’ long wait soon will end.
The 2019-20 Premier League season will resume June 17, according to The BBC’s Dan Roan, Sky Sports and multiple other reports. Premier League clubs reportedly agreed in principle on a restart date Thursday at a meeting and are expected to announce the decision soon.
The English top-flight schedule will resume with Manchester City versus Arsenal and Aston Villa versus Sheffield United on June 17. Each team then will have played 29 games out of their 38-game slates, and the campaign will continue the weekend of June 19 through 21 with a full round of matchups.
The Premier League suspended play March 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Players returned to practice for small-group earlier this month, and the Premier League voted to resume full-group and full-contact sessions Wednesday. Premier League games almost certainly will take place without fans in attendance.
The Premier League likely will be the third of Europe’s “big five” leagues to return to action, following Germany’s Bundesliga (which returned May 16) and Spain’s La Liga (the country’s government authorized it to resume June 8). Italy’s government gave Serie A permission to (whose clubs voted to resume June 20). France’s Ligue 1 cancelled the remainder of its season in April after the French government banned sports events until September.
Liverpool currently leads the Premier League standings by 25 points over second-place Manchester City. The Reds need just two wins from their final nine games to clinch their first English league title in 30 years.
