Liverpool ‘to be awarded Premier League’ with plan that could see ‘no teams relegated’: report
Liverpool is ‘likely’ to be awarded the 2019-20 Premier League title, with reports there are mounting fears the season won’t be finished. It could also mean a 22-team league next season.
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Liverpool is ‘likely’ to be awarded the 2019-20 Premier League title, with reports there are mounting fears it will be impossible to complete the season this summer.
The Telegraph reports there is “little opposition” from rival clubs for Jurgen Klopp’s side to be awarded the title, with Liverpool 25 points clear of second-placed Manchester City. As it stands, two more wins will hand the Reds the league.
English football has already suspended all fixtures until April 4, but the report suggests resuming play on that date - when experts believe coronavirus will be peaking - is extremely optimistic.
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“You tell me whether you think there’s the remotest possibility that anything in the science is going to tell us that it’s going to be safer to play on April 3 than now,” a senior figure told Telegraph Sport.
That has seen radical plans drawn up which could include voiding the season - though with Liverpool so close to clinching the title, this seems unlikely.
Whether teams should be relegated and promoted from the Championship, and which sides should qualify for the Champions League, are also questions that need to be answered.
Instead of any teams being relegated, the Premier League could expand to 22 teams for one year.
“One proposal that could be made would be for the top two in the Championship, currently Leeds and West Brom, to be promoted and for 22 teams to compete in next season’s Premier League,” the Telegraph reported.
“The EFL Cup would be postponed for one year to allow extra space in the fixture list and five clubs, instead of three, would be relegated at the end of the season.”
There could also be an expanded qualifying phase for the Champions League.
“One suggestion regarding Champions League qualification would be to allow the teams who qualified for this season’s tournament to keep their places next season and then enter any additional sides currently in qualification positions into an expanded qualifying phase,” the report said.
“That would mean third-placed Leicester going into a qualifying round for the Champions League, with Liverpool, Manchester City – subject to the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing – Chelsea and Tottenham holding on to their places in the tournament.
“But Manchester United, Wolves and Sheffield United, who are all above seventh-placed Spurs, would no doubt object to this.”
The English Premier League has suspended all fixtures until April 4 after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus.
Originally published as Liverpool ‘to be awarded Premier League’ with plan that could see ‘no teams relegated’: report
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