Premier League clubs have agreed to restart the season in just three weeks’ time in what is a huge breakthrough for their Project Restart plans.
The Premier League have desperately been trying to finalise plans to get the season back underway again following its suspension at the beginning of March amid the coronavirus crisis. June 20 has been lined up as the first round of fixtures following the Premier League’s resumption although Manchester City vs Arsenal and Aston Villa vs Sheffield United are set to go ahead on Wednesday June 17.
These two matches are the ‘games in hand’ for these four clubs, which will take all 20 Premier League teams up to 29 fixtures for the season.
Another game may be played on Friday June 19, with Sportsmail previously reporting that Tottenham vs Manchester United could be set for that slot, but the first full round of fixtures will start on Saturday June 20, with matches staggered across the weekend.
The restart date leaves Premier League managers with just three weeks to get their squads ready for the eagerly-awaited kick-off.
After the English top-flight was suspended in early March, it leaves clubs with plenty of work to do to get their squads as match-fit as possible following over three months away from the game.
Clubs only returned to small group training again last week, in line with the Premier League’s return-to-training protocols and UK Government guidelines on social distancing.
Premier League stars were only allowed to work in groups of five as clubs look to keep training as safe as possible ahead of the top-flight’s resumption.
But on Thursday, training looked a more familiar site as contact was allowed again between players after Phase Two of Project Restart was given the green light.
