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Let’s face it — we can follow all the live updates posts we want, but we really don’t know what the coronavirus is doing or where it will hit hard next. And Premier League fans are left in a state of limbo. We’re wondering when, not if, the league will be suspended.
So we’re staring at Twitter. We’re watching the BBC live feed centered on sport. And we’re debating what will happen once the FA shuts down the football.
While there were rumors that the Premier League would be played behind closed doors, as Germany are doing, it seems that matches, with fans, are going ahead. However, the Telegraph is reporting that three players at an unnamed Premier League club (which now appears to be Leicester City, where Brendan Rodgers has confirmed players are showing symptoms) have tested positive for the virus. With this in mind, can play really continue as normal? Will Villa travel to Chelsea on Saturday? Or will the league wait until the UEFA meeting next Tuesday to determine whether they’ll need to shut it down?
In Italy, where the virus has hit hardest in Europe, play has been suspended — but the FIGC have yet to decide which option it will take for deciding the league. It’s likely the Premier League will review the same options: Give Liverpool the title and relegate the bottom three as the table stands now, arrange for playoffs for the top spots and the teams attempting to avoid relegation, or — if there’s somehow enough time before the Euros, or if the Euros are themselves pushed back or suspended — play the games as scheduled but later in the year.
As an Aston Villa fan, would you be relieved if the season ended before the weekend? Would you want to move on from the pain and suffering of watching these players, and just accept a season in the Championship? Or would you want the league to arrange for a playoff to avoid relegation, hoping Villa could somehow cling on?
Whether you’d like the season to end or not, we do have some advice for you . . . stay the fuck home.