2:34 With the fixtures out Chief reporter Bryan Swanson assesses how Premier League clubs will cope with the new season starting so soon.
Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Bryan Swanson:
“The Premier League has said it’s committed to getting fans back inside stadiums as soon as possible but safety remains their priority. This is one for the government. They have the final say on when stadiums can open again. Talks are continuing but there is no fixed date for fans to return to ground as it’s too fluid and uncertain. Government officials told me they want to wait to see how some pilot events go. They are working towards some sort of phased return for fans from October 1 but there is a long wait as far as clubs are concerned. Everyone wants it to happen but crucially it has to be safe.”
What will be new next season?
After adopting five substitutes in the Premier League, and nine players on the bench, after the coronavirus restart in 2019/20 because of the sheer number of games, it’s back to normal for the new season after clubs voted in favour of scrapping the new rule at their AGM on August 6.
PGMOL chief Mike Riley presented a VAR review to clubs in their July meeting and at the AGM, it was agreed to implement the full FIFA VAR protocol, introducing a number of new measures for the 2020/21 season.
The referee review area – the screen at the side of the pitch which often drew criticism for its lack of use last season – will be used more for subjective decisions over goals, red cards and penalties.
Any part of player’s body that is on the ground when a penalty kick is taken will be classed as encroachment. So if any part of the foot is on the penalty area or arc line, it will be seen to be encroaching. The player must still have a material impact on the outcome of the kick.
Assistant referees will be told to keep their flags down in the case of marginal offside calls where a goalscoring opportunity is likely to follow immediately, until the passage of play is completed.
Once the goal scoring opportunity is complete – either a goal is scored or the chance is gone – they will then raise the flag to indicate the initial offence. If a goal is scored, the VAR will then review the offside judgement.
Penalties will no longer be automatically retaken if the goalkeeper infringes in the build-up to a spot-kick. A goalkeeper’s offence must “clearly affect” the penalty-taker for a spot-kick to be retaken if missed.
In addition, Yellow cards will also no longer be carried into penalty shoot-outs. So if a goalkeeper had previously received a yellow card in the match and an infringement drew another yellow card, they would not be sent off.
Meanwhile, plenty of clubs have released new kits for the forthcoming campaign and Nike has released its new ‘Flight’ ball – one they said addresses “inconsistent aerodynamics”.
New season, new kits!
Check out what the teams will be wearing next season here.
New season, new ball!
When is the transfer window?
The window will run for 10 weeks this summer.
- Transfer Centre LIVE!
It opened on Monday July 27 and will close on Monday October 5 at 11pm.
An additional domestic-only window will run from October 5 to 5pm on October 16 but Premier League clubs will only be able to trade with EFL clubs – for either loans or permanent registrations – and will not be able to do business with other Premier League clubs or clubs abroad.
Any other dates to mark in the diary?
The European competitions for 2019/20 are still to be concluded.
Champions League knockout games will be played in a 12-day condensed tournament in Lisbon in from August 12-23, with Manchester City still in the tournament. Next season’s group stage will start on October 20/21, 2020.
Manchester United have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, with a knockout tournament taking place across four venues in Germany from August 10-21.
Next season’s Europa League group stage will start on October 20, 2020. Qualifying for next season’s competition will begin on August 20, while Tottenham will start their Europa League campaign in the second qualifying round on September 17.
Spurs’ potential EL qualifying dates
- Second qualifying round: September 17
- Third qualifying round: September 24
- Play-offs: October 1
- Group stage starts: October 20
Spurs’ potential EL qualifying opponents
- Kesla FK (Azerbaijan)
- Torshavn (Faroe Islands)
- Neftchi Baku (Azerbaijan)
- Kaysar Kyzylorda (Kazakhstan)
- Ordabasy Shymkent (Kazakhstan)
- Sutjeska Niksic (Montenegro)
- OFI Heraklion (Crete, Greece)
- FK Riteriai (Lithuania)
- FH Hafnarfjardar (Iceland)
- Santa Coloma (Andorra)
- Shakhtyor Soligorsk (Belarus)
- Kalju Nomme (Estonia)
- Backa Topola (Serbia)
- Vojvodina Novi Sad (Serbia)
The Community Shield will take place at Wembley on Saturday August 29, the FA has confirmed. The traditional curtain-raiser for the new season will see Premier League champions Liverpool play Arsenal. The kick-off time for the game will be announced at a later date.
The match will be immediately followed by an international break from September 2 to 10.
The national team football windows of October and November 2020 will now feature triple-headers instead of double-headers, allowing the postponed European Qualifiers play-offs to be rescheduled at the beginning of the respective windows, on October 8 and November 12.
The first four rounds of the Carabao Cup will be played in September, with Premier League clubs joining at round two on September 15/16 and those who are in European competition entering at round three a week later.
The FA Cup third round is scheduled for January 9 2021 – and replays have been scrapped this season.
The 2020/21 UEFA Nations League group stage will take place on revised dates in September, October and November.
Euro 2020 will now take place from June 11-July 11, 2021. The 12 original host cities have been confirmed as venues for the rescheduled tournament.
Sourse: skysports.com
