By the time the Premier League restarts on Wednesday, it would have been exactly 100 days since Leicester City beat Aston Villa 4-0.
At the time, little did we realise that unforeseen circumstances would mean we would have to wait for over three months for the return of top-flight football in England.
Despite being one of the last leagues to return back to action- Bundesliga and La Liga have already got underway- it will still be a welcome sight for football fans to see once again.
It will certainly be different watching football to what it was over three months ago. Gone will be the sight of sold-out stadiums along with genuine football fans chants. Instead, it will see matches played behind closed doors, with relatively few people allowed inside the grounds.
Under normal circumstances with just nine games to go, the advantage of playing at home becomes quite significant, but with no sets of fans in stadiums any more for a considerable time this will alleviate the advantage that home sides will have leading up to the end of the season.
When the Bundesliga returned a few weeks ago, very few people would have predicted that in almost 95 per cent of games played thus far, the majority of wins have been secured by the away side.
This stat can be more than likely put down to the fact that by having no fans inside grounds there is clearly no advantage to home sides. It is also my belief that it will always favour the away side more as there is no pressure on them having to face a ground predominantly full of home fans.
Both teams will also start on a level playing field having played no competitive football for a while. This could also throw up the strong possibility of there being a fair amount of surprising results left to come in this current season.
Under normal circumstances, in terms of relegation, you would look at the remaining nine games to come and predict how many points could sides potentially pick up, no longer will this come into play as I believe there will be some shock results to come.
Another point to consider will be the fitness levels of all 20 clubs. Now more than ever they will need to call upon their vast squad levels as I can generally see more players getting injured than before the shutdown.
I also believe after this enforced break will work into the hands of the sides in and around the relegation positions. On their travels with no fans to face at grounds this will lift the pressure off them. It will also do so at home, by having no home fans groaning at any slight mistake players will make, this will benefit the struggling sides immensely.
What we can definitely say is that the return of football’s new version will be entirely different from what you and I have ever seen in our lifetimes.
Get set for Premier League 2019-20 Part Two.
This article was written exclusively for golear.co.uk
Commentaires