English Premier League | 2020/21 Discussion

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Winter break scrapped for 2020-21

2020-21 Premier League fixtures revealed

The 2020-21 season will be five weeks shorter than usual because of the late end to 2019-20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The campaign is set to start on 12 September and finish on 23 May 2021.

As a result, the Premier League has scrapped its winter break because of fixture congestion.

FA Cup replays have also been scrapped for this season to ease pressure on the already packed calendar, while the Carabao Cup semi-finals in January will be one-legged.

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Opening weekend fixtures

2020-21 Premier League fixtures revealed

Saturday 12 September:

Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham Hotspur v Everton
West Bromwich Albion v Leicester City
West Ham United v Newcastle United
Monday 14 September:

Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
Fixtures to be rescheduled:

Burnley v Manchester United
Manchester City v Aston Villa


Liverpool open season against Leeds

2020-21 Premier League fixtures revealed

Champions Liverpool will begin the defence of their Premier League title against newly-promoted Leeds United at Anfield.

The other two newly-promoted sides begin the season at home, with Fulham hosting London rivals Arsenal and West Brom taking on Leicester.

Manchester City's opening fixture is against Aston Villa, though the game will be rescheduled because of City's involvement in Europe. The same applies to Manchester United's opener against Burnley.

Chelsea and Wolves' opening games are both scheduled for Monday, 14 September after going out in the quarter-finals of Europe.

The Blues are at Brighton, while Wolves go to Sheffield United.

The other fixtures are Crystal Palace v Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur v Everton and West Ham United v Newcastle United.

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Festive fixtures

2020-21 Premier League fixtures revealed

Boxing Day is always one of the most eagerly anticipated days on the football calendar.

This year's fixture list has thrown up some tasty encounters, including Arsenal v Chelsea, Leicester v Manchester United and Newcastle travelling to Manchester City.

Boxing Day fixtures (26/12/2020)

Arsenal v Chelsea
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
Fulham v Southampton
Leeds United v Burnley
Leicester City v Manchester United
Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion
Manchester City v Newcastle United
Sheffield United v Everton
West Ham United v Brighton
Wolves v Tottenham Hotspur

[MenInG]

The government has urged the Premier League to consider making more matches available to be shown live while fans are not allowed in stadiums.

Under current plans, 160 of the total 380 top-flight games next season will not be televised, angering some supporters who cannot attend.

All 92 top-flight matches after last season resumed in June following a three-month suspension were shown live.

But there are no plans for that to continue into 2020-21.

Instead, the Premier League has made 220 matches - 20 more than originally planned - available for live TV.

A spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: "Our focus is on working with the football authorities, safety and medical experts to get fans back in stadia as quickly as possible.

"It is for the Premier League and its broadcast partners to come to an agreement on screening matches, however we urge them to follow the spirit of Project Restart and listen to clubs' loyal fans and consider what can be achieved in the meantime."

Fans' group calls for Premier League games to be shown live on TV
The Football Supporters' Association (FSA) has campaigned for all games to be shown live in the UK.

The organisation said it "welcomes the Government intervention".

Chief executive of the FSA, Kevin Miles, added: "We all want to get back to games when it's safe to do so but it's not in anyone's interests to have a situation where fans excluded from grounds for reasons of health or Covid-related capacity reductions feel they have no option but to resort to illegal pirate broadcast schemes."

The Premier League has declined to comment.

Its next shareholders' meeting takes place on 3 September.

The Premier League season is set to start on 12 September, but as it stands, no fans will be admitted to top-flight matches before October at the earliest.

A limited number of supporters were allowed to watch Brighton's friendly with Chelsea on Saturday, which was used as a test event.

Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime share the rights to live Premier League football in the UK, with the BBC able to show highlights.

All English Football League games will be available to watch from home while matches continue to be played behind closed doors or at limited capacity.

A temporary measure has been agreed with Sky Sports to allow all games not televised live to be streamed online.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54005791

[MenInG]

The Premier League has terminated its £564m contract with its Chinese licensee with immediate effect.

China was the English top flight's most lucrative overseas television rights territory, with a three-season deal agreed in 2019.

It is understood the reasons for the termination are financial rather than political.

BBC Sport has been told streaming service PPTV withheld its latest payment of £160m, due in March.

In a statement on Thursday, the Premier League said: "The Premier League confirms that it has today terminated its agreements for Premier League coverage in China with its licensee in that territory.

"The Premier League will not be commenting further on the matter at this stage."

PPTV is owned by Suning Holdings, the Chinese group which also has a controlling stake in Serie A side Inter Milan.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54014827

[Firebat]

Premier League clubs vote against five subs rule; three from seven to be used in 2020/21

Premier League clubs have voted against using five substitutes in the 2020/21 season at a shareholders meeting.

It was initially agreed in August the five subs rule - introduced after Premier League football resumed last season - would be scrapped and they would revert to a maximum of three changes during games.

A proposal was put forward to again increase the number of substitutions to five, with a total of nine players on the bench but the motion did not get the required 14 votes, so next season remains at three replacements from seven named on a matchday.

Last season, as the clubs prepared for Project Restart amid coronavirus lockdown restrictions, it was agreed to allow five substitutions and to increase the matchday squad from 18 to 20 to help players deal with so many games in such a short period of time.

The meeting also agreed the preferred option is to play the season out to a conclusion if there was to be a second wave, but despite what have been described as "positive conversations," nothing has yet been officially added to the rule book.

There has to be a threshold of how many games it would take for a season to be considered a season, at which point a points-per-game scenario is one of options on table. This discussion is ongoing and will be revisited at a later date.

The consultation regarding anti-racism measures is ongoing, with dialogue continuing with the captains' group, as well as the Black Player Advisory Group, which was set up last year.

Drinks breaks will no longer feature midway through the first and second halves of matches.

https://www.skysports.com/football/n...sed-in-2020-21

[The Viper]

The Premier League has announced it has received three positive tests in its first round of testing ahead of the new season.

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The Premier League 2020-21 season starts this weekend, with the final round of matches on 23 May 2021.

All football was suspended in March because of the global coronavirus pandemic, with the 2019-20 English top-flight season restarting behind closed doors in June and only finishing at the end of July - giving clubs just seven weeks between domestic campaigns.

Other than that, there are plenty more unknowns as the new campaign begins.

Here's a few of them:

When will fans come back?

As it stands, no fans will be admitted to top-flight matches before October at the earliest.

There were 2,500 Brighton supporters allowed into a Premier League stadium for the first time in almost six months at the end of August, for a friendly between Brighton and Chelsea at the Amex Stadium as part of a government trial event. Tottenham are waiting to find out whether they will be allowed about 4,000 fans into the corporate areas of their new stadium for Sunday's opening fixture against Everton.

What about season tickets?
Clubs are taking various approaches on whether they are offering season tickets at all this season.

Some are offering refunds, credits and access to ballots for when partial crowds are allowed at games.

How can fans watch games?
It was announced on Tuesday that all 28 of the matches to be played in September will be televised live.

One of those - Leicester v Burnley on 20 September - will be broadcast on the BBC

Fans and the government had been asking the Premier League to consider making more matches available to be shown live while supporters are not allowed in stadiums.

All 92 top-flight matches were shown live on Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport after last season resumed in June behind closed doors, following a three-month suspension.

All English Football League games will be available to watch from home while matches continue to be played behind closed doors or at limited capacity.

A temporary measure has been agreed with Sky Sports to allow all games not televised live to be streamed online.


No FA Cup replays and one-legged Carabao Cup semi-finals
The winter break has had to be scrapped, with this campaign running five weeks shorter than a standard season because of the late end to 2019-20.

And for the first time, there will be no replays in this season's FA Cup.

Also, a full round of Premier League fixtures has been scheduled for the weekend of the FA Cup fourth round. The final will be played on 15 May, before the final weekend of the Premier League campaign.

The Carabao Cup second, third and fourth rounds will be played on consecutive midweek dates from 15-16 September. Premier League teams have agreed to play, with those in Europe coming in at the third round stage.

The EFL Cup semi-finals will be one-off games rather than two-legged affairs as they have been since the tournament began in 1960-61.

The EFL Trophy will start on 8-9 September with the Wembley final on 14 March.

Uefa have said privately they will take a dim view of clubs playing in weeks when their competitions are being played - effectively every available midweek in between October and November international breaks, plus three straight midweeks after the November one.

What about the drinks breaks?
The controversial drinks breaks have been ditched because it was not thought temperatures in winter would get high enough to create an issue.

Will there be VAR changes?
Premier League officials believe the introduction of VAR meant there was 95% accuracy in "key match incidents" last season compared to 82% the year before. They accept it is impossible to get 100% accuracy - VAR cannot intervene when referees give incorrect second yellow cards for a start - so now the aim is to improve the consistency of decision making by reducing grey areas and limit the impact on the game.

In July, Fifa took full control of VAR from the sport's lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (Ifab).

The most significant impact of this will be an increase in referees using pitch-side monitors for goals, red cards and penalty kicks. VAR will continue to rule on factual decisions and advise on matters of subjectivity. However, it will tend to be the on-pitch referee's call.

The Premier League will revert back to three substitutions per team, having allowed five following last season's restart.

What about offsides and penalties?
In theory, a goalkeeper could be sent off if they failed to stay on their line on three occasions during penalties. In the first instance, they would receive a warning, in the second they would get a yellow card and the third a second yellow. For goalkeepers and any outfield player encroaching into the area, the measurements will be taken from their foot on the ground - it also has to have a material impact on the outcome of the penalty itself.

Meanwhile, assistant referees have been told to wait before raising their flags if an immediate goalscoring opportunity is likely to arise from a situation where they believe a player is offside. This is to avoid confusion among defenders if it turns out no offence was committed.

What is handball?
It is an imaginary line, roughly halfway up the upper arm. This is what is expected to be used for handball decisions. Overall, the Premier League anticipate the tweaks to the rules mean more penalties will be awarded in 2020-21 than was the case last season.

Will players continue to kneel for Black Lives Matter in September?

The restart of the previous season saw all players, staff and officials at Premier League clubs taking a knee immediately before all 92 matches in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Players have also been wearing Black Lives Matter logos on their shirts.

Talks are yet to take place about how clubs would represent diversity issues this season - and any decision will be made after a consultation with players.

What about coronavirus testing?
In last week's Premier League meeting, there was a commitment to complete this coming season should a second wave of coronavirus hit England, although a final decision is yet to be made.

In terms of testing, this will now only happen once a week rather than twice, although the number of staff and players being tested will rise to 75. The Premier League feels the number of positive cases was so small when the season resumed that higher numbers of tests only increased the potential for false positives.

Some consideration was given to getting rid of tests altogether but this has not happened, with the situation due to be reviewed at the end of September and tweaked if it is felt necessary.

Already this week, Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez and defender Aymeric Laporte have tested positive and - according to current guidelines - will self-isolate for 10 days and not train with team-mates. One additional outfield player and a third goalkeeper will now be allowed into the 'red zone' on match days.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/53667684

[MenInG]

Premier League clubs have lost £700m during the coronavirus crisis, says the league's chief executive Richard Masters.

Plans to have supporters back in sports stadiums on October 1 remain in place, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that strategy will be reviewed in the coming days.

The announcement came during the Prime Minister's press briefing on Wednesday, at which he confirmed gatherings of more than six people will be illegal from Monday - a rule which does not apply to competitive sports teams.

Masters says the Premier League is ready to work with the Government to ensure the safe return of fans to stadiums as the clubs prepare themselves for more financial losses during the 2020/21 season, which begins on Saturday.

"We are ready, willing and able to be ambitious with our testing as soon as we are able to open our turnstiles," Masters told Sky Sports. "Using the current guidelines we'll be about a quarter full and we want to work over time because the fans are the key missing ingredient from the thing.

"Not having fans in the stadium has serious financial repercussions, not just in the Premier League but throughout football. Every Premier League match contributes around £20m to the local and national economy, so we want to play our part in supporting that national effort.

"There's a perception that the Premier League can continue to sustain losses for a long period of time but it has been very painful for clubs and there are more challenges ahead.

"Last season we lost circa £700m and next season, matchday revenue is about that number again, so the sooner we can get fans back into stadiums the sooner we can reduce that number."

A pilot scheme to have spectators for horse racing at Doncaster this week was cancelled by the local council on Wednesday, with plans to have 6,000 fans in attendance for Saturday's meeting shelved.

A limited number of spectators were allowed to see the World Snooker Championships in August and plans remain in place for a return of 1,000 Premier League fans per game, with social distancing measures in place, from October 1.

"We will have to revise plans and review our intention to have fans return to stadiums - that doesn't mean we are abandoning it completely, we just need to review it," said the Prime Minister.

https://www.skysports.com/football/n...ichard-masters

[The Viper]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed plans for fans to return to sports stadiums from October 1 are to be reviewed.

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Premier League returns on Saturday with Fulham v Arsenal (12:30 BST)

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The Premier League has written to the government to express concern at the "decisions taken to restrict and potentially delay" the return of fans to football stadiums.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said plans for spectators to attend sporting events in England from 1 October are to be reviewed after a rise in coronavirus cases.

Pilot events in September will be restricted to 1,000 fans, but the Premier League says it will not hold test events until more can attend.

In a statement, it said the 1,000-person cap will "not provide any opportunity to properly test and evaluate measures designed to maximise fan safety".

"At 1,000 supporters, not only would there be little to learn from a test event, but each match would be heavily loss-making," the league said.

"For each month of the season without fans, more than £100m is lost to football across the leagues, with consequent damage to the local and national economy.

"It also harms the employment prospects of more than 100,000 people whose jobs depend on matchday activities."

Rugby Football League chief executive Ralph Rimmer has also called on ministers to reconsider plans to delay the return of fans, claiming clubs in his sport could be hit with losses of "up to £2m per week".

At the end of August, 2,500 people watched a friendly between Brighton and Chelsea at the Seagulls' Amex Stadium - the first time fans had been allowed into a Premier League ground in almost six months.

Football has been played behind closed doors since it resumed in June following the coronavirus lockdown.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has told BBC Sport it is "absolutely critical" that fans are allowed back inside stadiums as soon as possible and failure to do so would cost clubs £700m during the 2020-21 season, which starts on Saturday.

"Our clubs have already prepared test events and can offer larger scale trials to prove it is possible to produce bio-secure, safe environments, as was proved through the successful delivery of Project Restart," the Premier League added.

"The Premier League recognises the ambition of government's 'Operation Moonshot' and will support the project's objectives to get fans back into stadiums. However, we believe measures are already available which would allow the safe return of fans and should also be activated now.

"As the government begins its review of the 1 October date for the return of spectators to sport, the Premier League asks that the high safety standards which can be achieved by our clubs are fully taken into account before any decision is taken and that sport is not left behind other industries."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54121176

[Saj]

My top 4

Liverpool
Man City
Man Utd
Chelsea

[MenInG]

Some seven weeks since the 2019-20 season finished, a new Premier League campaign gets under way on Saturday - with 380 matches over the next eight months.

Newly promoted Fulham's home game with FA Cup winners Arsenal (12:30 BST) marks the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

On the same day, Liverpool begin their title defence at home to Leeds United - back in England's top flight for the first time since 2004 - at 17:30.

The season starts as it ended in July - behind closed doors - while all 28 Premier League fixtures in September will be televised live.

The campaign will finish on 23 May 2021, fewer than three weeks before the start of Euro 2020, which has been put back a year until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On the eve of the 2020-21 campaign, BBC Sport takes a look at the big new Premier League signings to look out for. Will Liverpool mount a successful title defence? And will the three promoted clubs stay up?

->Spoiler<-

There are four games spread out across the opening day of the season, each kicking off at a different time.

After the London derby at Craven Cottage, Crystal Palace host Southampton at 15:00 before the focus switches to Anfield.

Then it is back to the capital at 20:00 for West Ham's home match with Newcastle.

On Sunday, newly promoted West Brom are at home to Leicester (14:00), while Everton and their new signings visit Tottenham at 16:30.

Premier League fixtures
There are two fixtures on Monday. Sheffield United host Wolves at 18:00 - less than five weeks after Nuno Espirito Santo's side were knocked out of the Europa League quarter-finals - and big-spending Chelsea, who were in Champions League action as recently as 8 August, are at Brighton (20:15).

The Burnley-Manchester United and Manchester City-Aston Villa games have been postponed.

Both Manchester clubs have been allowed delayed starts. City were in competitive action as recently as 15 August, when they lost 3-1 to Lyon in the Champions League quarter-finals.

United were beaten 2-1 by Sevilla in the semi-finals of the Europa League on 16 August.

Pep Guardiola's City, who finished runners-up last season, will start their Premier League campaign at Wolves on 21 September (20:15), while United start two days earlier at home to Crystal Palace (17:30).

Will the short turnaround impact sides?
Even before the end of last season, the Premier League announced the new campaign would start on 12 September.

The short turnaround coupled with the pandemic means teams used to preparing for the season with tours around the world in front of their global fanbase have stayed closer to home.

Liverpool visited the United States, Scotland and Switzerland before their title-winning campaign. This time they have played two matches in Austria and entertained League One Blackpool at a near-empty Anfield.

Arsenal played League One MK Dons before beating Liverpool on penalties in the Charity Shield at Wembley on 29 August.

Sheffield United's preparations for their second successive season in the top flight were disrupted by the weather.

On 25 August, they were leading 1-0 at Dundee United when the match was abandoned at half-time because of a waterlogged pitch and high winds.

Who are the big new signings?
It has been a busy close season for Chelsea boss Frank Lampard.

The Blues have spent about £200m on six major signings, with two of them free, making them by far the most active Premier League team in the transfer window.

Their purchases include attacking midfielder Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth about £71m.

Kai Havertz reacts while playing for Bayer Leverkusen
Kai Havertz has been described as the biggest talent of his generation coming out of Germany
All 20 Premier League clubs have made signings, although some have been less busy than others.

Liverpool have made only one addition to their squad - Greece left-back Kostas Tsimikas for 13m euros (£11.7m) from Olympiakos.

Click here to view all this summer's signings.

They include:

Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek to Manchester United for £35m
Porto striker Fabio Silva to Wolves for £35.6m
Real Madrid attacking midfielder James Rodriguez to Everton for £12m
Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson to Newcastle for £20m
Wolves defender Matt Doherty to Tottenham for undisclosed fee
Valencia forward Ferran Torres to Manchester City for £21m
Valencia forward Rodrigo to Leeds United for £26m
Brentford striker Ollie Watkins to Aston Villa for £28m
In normal circumstances, the summer transfer window would be closed by now, but it has been extended to 5 October because of the pandemic.

The winter window will run throughout January 2021 as usual.

Title contenders and top-four gatecrashers
Liverpool were runaway winners last season after securing 18 more points than nearest rivals Manchester City.

The Reds were spectacular on their way to a first league triumph for 30 years, but they face a new challenge as City look to wrestle back the crown after being denied a third successive league title.

While City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have all made significant additions to their squads, Jurgen Klopp has yet to make a major signing. Will depth be an issue?

Having secured fourth spot last season, Chelsea will look to push on after spending so much money when others are tightening their belts, and what of United and Arsenal?

United enjoyed a solid second half to last season following the arrival of Bruno Fernandes. Will they kick on after strengthening the midfield with Donny van de Beek?

After his side beat Manchester City and Chelsea on the way to lifting the FA Cup, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will have his eye on more trophies.

Top of the Premier League table in 2019-20
Everton, without a major trophy since 1995, will seek to significantly improve on last season's 12th-placed finish, particularly as they have been busy in the transfer market.

Carlo Ancelotti has brought in French midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez and Brazil midfielder Allan. Will they challenge for a top-four finish?

Tottenham and Leicester will also be eyeing a Champions League spot after finishing fifth and sixth last season respectively, while Wolves, who have spent a club-record £35.6m on 18-year-old striker Fabio Silva, are seeking a third successive top-seven finish.

Will the new teams survive?
The Premier League said goodbye to Norwich City, Watford and Bournemouth at the end of last season - and welcomed Leeds, West Brom and Fulham.

Leeds, who won the Championship by a 10-point margin, last played a Premier League match on 15 May 2004, a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.

Their head coach Marcelo Bielsa is only the fourth Argentine to manage in the English top flight, after Ossie Ardiles (Tottenham), Mauricio Pochettino (Southampton, Tottenham) and Mauricio Pellegrino (Southampton).

Bielsa: the manager behind the myths
Aged 65 years and 53 days, he will be the second-oldest permanent manager (post-war) to take charge of his first game in the English top flight behind only Dutchman Dick Advocaat, who was 67 when he took charge of Sunderland in March 2015.

West Brom are in the Premier League for the first time since 2017-18, when they finished bottom of the table after eight successive seasons in the top flight.

The Baggies will play Black Country rivals Wolves in the Premier League for the first time since 2012.

Fulham beat Brentford in the play-off final at Wembley on 4 August to secure a return to the top fight after being relegated in 2018-19.

Only three times in Premier League history have all the promoted sides stayed up - in 2001-02, 2011-12 and 2017-18.

Will it happen in 2020-21?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54012403

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[MenInG]

GOAL - Fulham 0-1 Arsenal
Alexander Lacazette

[MenInG]

GOAL - Fulham 0-2 Arsenal
Gabriel

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GOAL - Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

[Saj]

So easy for Arsenal 3-0.

Fulham look like it will be a long season for them.

[MenInG]

FULL-TIME
Crystal Palace 1-0 Southampton

[The Viper]

GOAL - Mohamed Salah (penalty)
Liverpool 1-0 Leeds

[Kianig89]

Arsenal raised hopes with a clinical performance against lackluster Fulham

[MenInG]

Liverpool 1-1 Leeds

Two goals scored, two further disallowed.

Been a frantic opening to this game.

Leeds standing right up to champions Liverpool.

[The Viper]

Liverpool 2-2 Leeds so far

Lots of goals in this.

[MenInG]

Liverpool 3-2 Leeds (Salah 33)

[The Viper]

Liverpool 3-3 Leeds! (Kilch)

[The Viper]

Liverpool 3-3 Leeds! (Kilch)

Liverpool 4-3 Leeds (Salah again to get his hatrick)

[Abdullah719]

Wilfried Zaha "hopes a big club comes in and takes him from us", says Roy Hodgson.

In full: https://t.co/Jc5B1gVhdb#cpfc #bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/4lbfOqFzQb

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 12, 2020

[Saj]

Good start for Newcastle - 2-0 win at West Ham.

The Hammers survived last season, but need to get some players in surely.

[Mueez]

My prediction for this season:

Liverpool
Man City
Arsenal
Man United
Chelsea

[MenInG]

[MenInG]

HALF-TIME
West Brom 0-0 Leicester

[Firebat]

GOAL - West Brom 0-1 Leicester
Timothy Castagne (56 mins)

Breakthrough!

Brendan Rodgers said pre-game that his new full-back was good for a goal or two and Leicester's only summer signing Timothy Castagne has scored on his debut!

Good goal too, Dennis Praet finding space on the left and standing up a lovely dinked cross, Jamie Vardy can't quite reach it but the Belgian can and he heads into the top corner.

[Firebat]

GOAL - West Brom 0-2 Leicester
Jamie Vardy (Pen 74 mins)

Superb pace from Harvey Barnes down the left, he skins his man and looks up. Vardy is in the middle, but can't get on the cross as he tangles with Kyle Bartley.

Referee Anthony Taylor decides there's enough contact for a penalty...

Great penalty, Jamie Vardy puts it right into the corner and does a cup-your-ears celebration to shush the non-existant home support.

[Firebat]

GOAL - West Brom 0-3 Leicester
Jamie Vardy (Pen 84 mins)

Harvey Barnes causing chaos again down the left, he powers away and plays it inside, James Justin arrives on it and he's swept to the deck by Dara O'Shea.

Daft challenge, penalty again.

Same corner, just a bit higher up, as last season's golden boot winner Jamie Vardy gets his second of the day.

[Saj]

West Brom very much like Fulham looked like a team who will struggle this season unless they invest heavily.

Leicester looked very comfortable after that first goal. Looks like Rogers has added some good players this season.

[Saj]

Really good performance by Everton. 1 0 win at Spurs. New signings looked good especially Allan.

Spurs looked flat especially in the 2nd half.

[Nostalgic]

It promises to be another frustrating season for us long suffering Spurs fans.

[MenInG]

Nuno Espirito Santo has signed a new three-year deal as head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[watson367]

Eagerly waiting for Liverpool v. Chelsea.

[MenInG]

Crystal Palace are interested in signing Brentford forward Said Benrahma, with club officials set to meet with the player's representatives.

[MenInG]

Sheffield United 0-2 Wolves

[MenInG]

HALF-TIME
Sheffield United 0-2 Wolves

[The Viper]

Full team news

Brighton v Chelsea (20:15 BST)

New signing Adam Lallana goes straight into the starting XI for Brighton. Dutch defender Joel Veltman settles for a place on the bench.

Centre-back Ben White, back from his loan spell at Leeds, also starts.

Brighton XI: Ryan, Lamptey, White, Webster, Dunk, Bissouma, Maupay, Trossard, Lallana, Alzate, March

Subs: Steele, Stephens, Connolly, Gross, Jahanbakhsh, Burn, Ivo Veltman

Chelsea's new boys Timo Werner and Kai Havertz start for Chelsea. Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud are both on the bench.

Young Reece James gets a start and Mason Mount, fresh from international duty with England, is also in the team.

Chelsea XI: Kepa, Alonso, Christensen, Jorginho, Kante, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Zouma, Mount, James, Havertz

Subs: Caballero, Rudiger, Barkley, Abraham, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Azpilicueta

[Saj]

Wolves eased to a 2-0 win over Sheffield United. Lovely to watch when at their best Wolves.

Chelsea 3-1 winners at Brighton. Look good going forward but the keeper and the defence still look shaky.

[KingKhanWC]

Chelsea will be strong this season, some great signings.

This season will be hard to predict, no team will cruise the league like we did.

Between City and LFC for the title though.

My predictions.

LFC
City
Chelsea
Arsenal
Man Utd
Wolves

[MenInG]

Senior sport officials will meet the UK government this week to discuss the return of fans to venues.

Last week, the government restricted pilot events to 1,000 spectators after a rise in coronavirus cases, and said plans for grounds to be up to a third full from 1 October would be reviewed.

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Secretary of State Oliver Dowden will now meet with stakeholders.

The Premier League has already written to the government over pilot plans.

On Friday, the BBC revealed English football's top league was to inform the government that it would postpone plans for further pilots until the restriction was lifted, and reiterated its confidence that fans could be returned to stadiums safely.

The Premier League says around £100m per month will be lost by clubs across the leagues while matches continue behind closed doors and it is one of a number of sports bodies to have voiced concerns at the financial impact of an extended period with empty venues.

Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage has written to former sports minister Tracey Crouch MP to state that despite changes to Covid-19 restrictions, the UK government is hopeful fans can attend events under socially distanced conditions from 1 October.

'We wouldn't last the season'

On Monday, the second pilot fixture in rugby union's Premiership took place as 1,000 spectators attended Gloucester's match with Harlequins.

Meanwhile, reports in the Times on Tuesday claimed attendances could be restricted to between 1,000 and 2,500 from 1 October, depending on the coronavirus infection rate.

Gloucester chief executive Lance Bradley told BBC Radio 4 that level of restriction would be "a disaster" if put in place for the remainder of the season.

"We simply have to get fans back in reasonable numbers as soon as possible to ensure the game survives," said Bradley. "We can't keep going losing money with 1,000 or 2,000 fans.

"In the end, that would be a disaster. There are clubs in a worse position than us but we would find it very difficult.

"We wouldn't be able to make it through the season if we were only allowed crowds of 2,500."

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Branislav Ivanovic has sealed a return to the Premier League after signing a one-year contract with West Brom.

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Premier League calls on government to open stadiums on 1 October

Premier League clubs have urged the UK government to stick to its proposal of allowing fans to return to stadiums from 1 October.

The government has restricted pilot events to 1,000 spectators and is reviewing its initial target date of when more fans could attend venues.

The move followed a rise in coronavirus cases in parts of the country.

The Premier League met with clubs on Thursday and ensured stadiums "will be among the safest public places".

"Clubs will adopt a range of common standards, which will help deliver bio-secure, safe environments for fans across the League," the Premier League said.

"Taking into account the high safety standards which will be set by the Premier League in conjunction with the relevant public authorities, the League and clubs urge Government to remain committed to the 1 October date for the controlled return of fans to sporting venues."

The majority of sports in England have been played behind closed doors since the coronavirus lockdown in March.

During Thursday's meeting, Premier League clubs said the loss of revenue generated at stadiums from matches "is having a significant impact across the League as well as on the football pyramid and local and national economies".

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has already said a failure to return fans to stadiums quickly could cost the league's 20 clubs £700m during the 2020-21 season.

This weekend, seven fixtures in the EFL will welcome crowds of up to 1,000.

Hull City's home fixture with Crewe was also due to host fans but with local coronavirus cases more than tripling in the past week, the local council stepped in to cancel the pilot event.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54196341

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GOAL - Everton 0-1 West Brom
Grady Diangana

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GOAL - Everton 1-1 West Brom
Dominic Calvert-Lewin

It's given!

The touch off the defender means the offside is ruled out. Brilliant reactions from Dominic Calvert-Lewin. That's two in two for him.

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HALF-TIME
Everton 2-1 West Brom

Shambles for West Brom at the end of that half.

They are trailing 2-1 and are a man down after holding their own for 44 minutes.

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GOAL - Everton 2-2 West Brom
Matheus Pereira

WOW.

It's an absolute stunner. Matheus Pereira, West Brom's main man, can't stop smiling because he steps up to take the free-kick and curls it beautifully into the top right corner.

Nothing Jordan Pickford can do about that and 10-man West Brom are level within minutes of the second half!

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10-man West Brom's capitulation continues into the second half, they're 5-2 down after 70 minutes, as Calvert-Lewin completes his hattrick.

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Full team news: Leeds v Fulham (15:00 BST)

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa makes just one change from the side that ran Liverpool close in their Premier League opener last Saturday.

Captain Liam Cooper comes in for Pascal Struijk after overcoming a calf problem.

Leeds XI: Meslier, Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Dallas, Harrison, Phillips, Klich, Hernandez, Bamford, Costa

Subs: Caprile, Poveda-Ocampo, Alioski, Roberts, Moreno, Struijk, Shackleton

Fulham boss Scott Parker makes four changes to the side that lost to Arsenal on the opening weekend of the season. The big news is that captain Tom Cairney drops to the bench along with goalkeeper Marek Rodak, Neeskens Kebano and Tim Ream.

That means France international goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and Dutch defender Kenny Tete make their debuts while Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Aleksandar Mitrovic also start.

Fulham XI: Areola, Tete, Hector, Odoi, Bryan, Reed, Zambo Anguissa, Kamara, Onomah, Cavaleiro, Mitrovic

Subs: Rodak, Kebano, Cairney, Knockaert, Ream, De Cordova-Reid, Lemina

[Saj]

Easy win 5-2 for Everton versus West Brom.

Everton looking a lot stronger this season with their new signings.

Looks like it will be a long season for West Brom.

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FULL-TIME: Everton 5-2 West Brom

Fantastic win for Everton. James Rodriguez was a joy to watch and Dominic Calvert-Lewin continues to impress with a hat-trick.

Tough day for 10-man West Brom, who had performed so well for 44 minutes before Kieran Gibbs' red card sealed their fate.

[Firebat]

Easy win 5-2 for Everton versus West Brom.

Everton looking a lot stronger this season with their new signings.

Looks like it will be a long season for West Brom.

Conceding 8+ goals in first 2 Premier League matches of the season:

10 Wigan 2010/11 (finished 16th)
9 Leicester 2001/02 (20th)
9 Wolves 2003/04 (20th)
9 Huddersfield 2018/19 (20th)
8 Tottenham 2011/12 (4th)
8 WEST BROM 2020/21

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Leeds 1-0 Fulham

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GOAL - Leeds 1-1 Fulham
Aleksandar Mitrovic

A decent penalty.

He fires it into the bottom left corner. The keeper wasn't too far away but it's right in the corner and it's got enough power on it.

Game on.

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GOAL - Leeds 2-1 Fulham
Mateusz Klich

Another cool penalty. He goes right and the keeper goes left. Leeds are back in front.

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GOAL - Leeds 4-3 Fulham

Aleksandar Mitrovic

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FULL-TIME
Leeds 4-3 Fulham

Leeds have their first win of the Premier League season. Another thriller, another 4-3 result. Goals are fun!

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Goal! Manchester United 0-1 Crystal Palace (Townsend, 7):

[KingKhanWC]

Another 4-3 game for Leeds but this time they come out winners.

Man Utd losing to Palace

Long way to go, can the Eagles hang on, doubt it.

[The Viper]

GOAL - Man Utd 1-3 Crystal Palace
Wilfried Zaha

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FULL-TIME

Man Utd 1-3 Crystal Palace

Manchester United are beaten in their opening Premier League game.

Crystal Palace, very deservedly, make it two wins out of two.

[The Viper]

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GOAL - Arsenal 1-0 West Ham
Alexandre Lacazette

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang breaks into the box and lifts in a cross to Alexandre Lacazette which he powerfully heads past the keeper.

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Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We knew Manchester United didn’t play last week and that we had the mental advantage.

"If anything we could have won it by more than three goals. We had some chances and have added some quality since last season. It could have been a more handsome result but we will take that all day.

“We take confidence from previous results. We knew we had come here at a similar stage last season and won and we also took heart from it being their first game of the season. It gave us the confidence to believe we could come here and win the game."

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Seems like Palace gave Utd a bit of a thumping here which could have been worse.

Its only the first game of the season but must be a big shock for Utd fans? @PetroDollars?

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Hard fought win for Arsenal v West Ham.

Gooners not at their best but it's still 3 points.

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Leeds gonna be the death of me at this rate. Two absolutely breathless games even by Bielsa's high standards

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Southampton 1-5 Tottenham

Harry Kane the first player to be directly involved in 5 goals in one PL game (1 goal, 4 assists) since Mo Salah v Watford in March 2018 (4 goals, 1 assist). It's the second time Kane has done so (also May 2017 v Leicester).

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Son scores 4 as Spurs thrash Southampton 5-2

Son Heung-min scored four goals in a stunning display as Tottenham secured their first Premier League win of the season by coming from behind to thrash Southampton.

The South Korea international combined with Harry Kane for all four of his goals as Spurs took control after Danny Ings' fine finish from a tight angle had given Southampton a first-half lead.

Son's first came on the stroke of half-time when he raced on to Kane's pass before driving across Alex McCarthy and into the back of the net.

The pair opened up Southampton again as Spurs took the lead soon after the restart, Kane sending Son through one-on-one and the forward making no mistake.

The hosts struggled to deal with Son's superbly timed runs behind the defence and he duly got his third, racing on to Kane's clipped pass before slotting in.

Kane then provided his fourth assist of the day with a brilliant cross for Son, who coolly chipped McCarthy, before Kane got in on the scoring himself when he stabbed in from close range after Erik Lamela's shot had been pushed on to the post.

Ings converted a penalty in stoppage time but it was scant consolation as Southampton slumped to their third consecutive defeat in all competitions.

Saints have work to do:

A seven game unbeaten run at the end of last season gave Southampton fans plenty of reasons to be optimistic that their side could challenge further up the table this term.

Things have so far not gone to plan. The Saints have been beaten in all three of their games this season, losing to Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener before they were knocked out of the League Cup by Championship side Brentford.

Ings. who scored 22 league goals last season, has been linked with a move away to Tottenham in this transfer window and he showed why it is crucial that the Saints keep a hold of him.

His first goal in this game was a superbly taken finish and he was a constant thorn in the Spurs side in a first half Southampton had the better of as he pressured defenders in possession and linked up play in attack.

But Southampton cannot rely on Ings to win games on his own and will need to show better in defence than they did in the second half as time and again they failed to pick up the runs by Son.

"The way we defended was a disaster," conceded Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl after the game.

"That is something we will have to speak about because it was stupid. In the end it was a deserved defeat."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54135440

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Blistering start to the second game week with goals galore!

I think what we're seeing now is the effect of no crowd attendance. Players are having that extra bit of freedom to express themselves without the pressure or hostility from the fans. Home advantage is less of a factor now as well.

Coming up within the next 28 hours is Premier League royalty in the form of Liverpool and Manchester City. Of course Chelsea are no slouches either as they face off against Liverpool at home and Werner although didn't score in the last match is looking electric.

Salah will want to continue the good form from his last match hattrick heroics. Should be an intriguing match for sure. Liverpool will want to tighten up at the back after conceding three goals against Leeds and prior to that also not doing too well defensively at the back end of last season.

I'm looking forward to see how City come out of the blocks in their pursuit to win back the title. Wolves should present a stern test against the stars of City. DeBruyne once again will be pin pointed as the main man but I think Sterling might also get off to a flier. He's been looking really sharp since Project Restart.

[Firebat]

Blistering start to the second game week with goals galore!

I think what we're seeing now is the effect of no crowd attendance. Players are having that extra bit of freedom to express themselves without the pressure or hostility from the fans. Home advantage is less of a factor now as well.

Coming up within the next 28 hours is Premier League royalty in the form of Liverpool and Manchester City. Of course Chelsea are no slouches either as they face off against Liverpool at home and Werner although didn't score in the last match is looking electric.

Salah will want to continue the good form from his last match hattrick heroics. Should be an intriguing match for sure. Liverpool will want to tighten up at the back after conceding three goals against Leeds and prior to that also not doing too well defensively at the back end of last season.

I'm looking forward to see how City come out of the blocks in their pursuit to win back the title. Wolves should present a stern test against the stars of City. DeBruyne once again will be pin pointed as the main man but I think Sterling might also get off to a flier. He's been looking really sharp since Project Restart.

Until he was presented with an open goal to put the ball into...

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Thiago on bench for Liverpool at Chelsea, Jota not involved

Still no place for Silva or Ziyech for Chelsea

Result: Newcastle 0-3 Brighton - Maupay scores twice

Result: Southampton 2-5 Tottenham - Son scores four, all set up by Kane, who adds fifth