Where Do We Go From Here? What To Do With the EPL Season, Part 2.

Hopefully we are all doing our small parts (or big, thank you to those of you on the front lines!) by staying home, so that things get better and life can return to some sense of normal so the game we love and the EPL season can return.

I hate having this conversation, but I think it’s time we put it on the table: What if the season ends here?

We saw last week that there is very little historical precedent for what happens if a season ends early.

Belgium and Dutch leagues have both already officially ended. In Belgium (as I understand it), the league standings held and Club Brugge was declared Champion. No decision has been made yet for the Eredivisie. Ajax are top of the league, although they are tied with AZ Alkmaar on points, and winning because of a six goal difference. Wow! (I read that legal action may be taken depending on what happens. Yikes!). Can you imagine winning or losing a title in this way!? Truly crazy times.

To be clear, the season has not been called in England. And a UEFA statement said: “There was a strong recommendation given to finish domestic top division and cup competitions, although it is understood that there may be some special cases.”

First… let’s remind ourselves where things stand (table courtesy of bbc.com):

If the season ended and the league standings counted as the final for the season:

• Liverpool wins the league.
• Leicester, Chelsea, and Manchester United get Champions Leagues Football. Remember Manchester City is banned.
• Wolves would get the first UEFA cup, with Sheffield United claiming a space too.
• Bournemouth, Aston Villa, and Norwich would be relegated.
• Bournemouth would be tied on points with at 27 with both Watford and West Ham, but would go down based on goal differential.

So you could end the season like this…

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BUT this creates a lot of issues.

Let’s start first with the fact that the season ended with 4 teams having only played 28 games, as opposed to the other 16 teams with 29 games. If you recall, we ended on a double week…

• Aston Villa sit at 25 points, just 2 away from Bournemouth, Aston Villa, and Norwich who all sit at 27. A win could have put Villa out of the relegation zone!
• Arsenal sit in 9th place, but they have a game in hand. A big win could (in theory, which is where I live mostly with Arsenal), move them all the way to 6th and a spot in Europe.
• Sheffield United who currently sit 7th with a game in hand could in theory have moved ahead of Man United with a win to claim a Champions League place.
• Manchester City… well, that game doesn’t really mean anything to them at this point.

In general though, there was just a lot of football still to be played. I’m not a Liverpool fan, but honestly they deserve the title. Besides that and knowing that Manchester City won’t be in Europe, the last 9 games held a lot of drama and movement in the table.

• 6 points separate 5 from 11th place. With 5th place being a Champions League place, there was a lot football to played to win that last spot!
• Relegation is just as tight. Brighton land in 15th at the moment, only 4 points ahead of 19th place Aston Villa, with 3 teams in between at 27. Those relegation 6 pointers would be huge! (Even Norwich still have an outside chance).

I really hope this is all just speculation and issues that we will not have to think about! We don’t have any control of what the EPL will do, but we do have some say in how our leagues could end!

If the season ended now, what would you do with your fantasy league!? Should the winner take it all, even though you know you could have caught them!? Should all the hard work of winning a league be stripped away? Where do we go from here!?

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Stay safe and well and connected!

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