Report: Growing appetite among Premier League clubs could see Liverpool miss out on title

Tottenham Hotspur last kicked a ball in competitive football on March 10th when our Champions League hopes were ended following RB Leipzig’s comfortable 3-0 win in Germany.

The coronavirus pandemic has put pay to football ever since with European football both domestically and the cup competitions grinding to a halt.

The Premier League took the decision to extend the delay of the English top flight until April 30th with the campaign extended indefinitely which would have been music to the ears of league leaders Liverpool (The Sun).

The Athletic report that there is an appetite of number of Premier League clubs that want to cancel the current season with immediate effect and replay it in full once it is deemed safe to do so by the authorities.

At a Premier League meeting last week, there was complete commitment by clubs to finish the season with the prospect of having to pay back £762 million in broadcast revenue which has already been distributed if the season was cancelled.

The report suggests that privately some clubs are not comfortable with resuming the season; even if matches were to take place behind closed doors and are open to the idea of the competition being replayed despite the potential consequences associated with such a decision.

The vast majority of Tottenham fans would certainly welcome the call considering the club are down in eighth place in the table which could also see Liverpool miss out on their long-awaited first Premier League league title.

Spurs have suffered a horrific campaign which saw Daniel Levy part company with Mauricio Pochettino in November while also suffering long-term injuries to key players including Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Moussa Sissoko.

Any hopes of silverware were also ended with defeats in the Champions League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

A senior club official told The Athletic: “I’m hoping the situation changes by then but unfortunately, the world is changing and it’s changing for the worse every day.

“It’s absolutely clear what is going to happen. It’s a worldwide pandemic. You just start (the Premier League season) again and there are very few losers. Liverpool, I know. But in the grand scheme of things, honestly, it really doesn’t matter. You’ve just got to start again.

“This (COVID-19) is going to get worse here (in Britain), so it’s not about players returning to training. If we all stay at home and self-isolate for the next two, three months, we’re going to get through this quite simply. But even then, there’s going to be a period of slow reintegration into normality, otherwise the virus will spike again. So, if we’re lucky, the new season will start in September.

“If they want to say, ‘This season is over and it will be recommencing with the final nine games being played out in September’, fantastic. But if that’s not feasible. Just end this league with whatever consequences that has. End it and say the new league will start in September.

“We look like petulant, ridiculous children now. I passionately believe what we’re doing is wrong. And I would like to think my colleagues now believe that as well, that the world has changed. It’s a scary place at the moment and we’ve got to treat it seriously.”