Patient Liverpool end 30-year title wait

	Premier League - top half	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
C	Liverpool	31	28	2	1	70	21	+49	86
2	Manchester City	31	20	3	8	77	33	+44	63
3	Leicester City	31	16	7	8	59	29	+30	55
4	Chelsea	31	16	6	9	55	41	+24	54
5	Manchester United	31	13	10	8	48	31	+17	49
6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	31	12	13	6	44	34	+10	49
7	Tottenham Hotspur	31	12	11	10	50	41	+9	45
8	Sheffield United	31	11	9	9	30	31	-1	44
9	Arsenal	31	10	13	8	43	41	+2	43
10	Crystal Palace	31	11	9	11	28	36	-8	42

LIVERPOOL won their maiden Premier League title - and became English champions for a 19th time - after Manchester City were beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night.

Jurgen Klopp's men put themselves on the brink 24 hours earlier with a 4-0 thumping of Crystal Palace at Anfield, stretching their already mammoth lead at the top to 23 points.

Coincidentally, that win made it 23 consecutive home league wins for the Reds since a 1-1 draw against Leicester City in January 2019. 

It meant Man City needed to win all eight of their remaining games while Liverpool lost all of theirs.

That was never going to happen, of course - but, after 30 years and 58 days (or, alternatively, over 11,000 days) of waiting, it was understandable that Reds fans still wanted things to be confirmed officially. 

After all, last time that Liverpool were English league champions, Margaret Thatcher was British Prime Minister, George HW Bush (senior) was US President, and West Germany and the Soviet Union both still officially existed. 

Madonna held the UK number one with Vogue and the mother of Reds' captain Jordan Henderson was pregnant with him. 

True, Liverpool have continued to be successful during that 30-year period winning two European Cups, a UEFA Cup, three FA Cups, four League Cups, three European Super Cups and one Club World Cup. 

However, the league title itself continually eluded Liverpool, sometimes cruelly.

In 2009, Rafael Benitez's vintage scored more Premier League goals than eventual winners Manchester United - and beat their eternal rivals 4-1 at Old Trafford in a run of 10 wins and a draw out of the last 11.

Man United, though, were just as ruthless against the weaker teams in the league and took that title by four points.

Then, in 2014 under Brendan Rodgers, there was that slip up by Steven Gerrard which allowed Man City to steal in.

Last season was perhaps the hardest to take of all. Despite compiling a record of just one defeat across the 38 matches, it was that sole defeat, away at Man City, which proved costly. 

Liverpool, indeed, collected 97 points - but still fell one short of the 98 won by Man City. 

Incredibly, the Reds - newly crowned European champions for a sixth time - ramped up their consistency even further in 2019/20 and have dropped just seven points so far.

Win each of their seven remaining fixtures - including at Man City next Thursday - and Klopp's men will have taken 107 points out of a possible 114.

Their last league defeat at home came 38 months ago in April 2017 against Crystal Palace - and that was also the last time Liverpool lost a league match after holding the lead. 

Paradoxically, this is the earliest, in terms of matches played, and - due to the coronavirus lockdown - the latest date on which a Premier League title has been won.

Matches being played behind closed doors at the resumption have caused some trolls to suggest that this championship requires an asterisk to be put against it. 

But, while there are some asterisks flying around in this oddest of seasons, this is not one of them. Liverpool thoroughly deserve to be champions. 

It was inevitable, given the wait, that some supporters would ignore the official advice and congregate at Anfield to celebrate long into the night. 

On what had been the hottest day of the year, though, thousands of people earlier had flocked to the beach - so those fans at Anfield were far from the first to flout the lockdown rules and seem unlikely to be the last. 

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson famously declared his team would knock Liverpool off their perch as the Old Trafford club set about overhauling the Reds' total of English league titles.

Liverpool still remain one short of the Red Devils on that front - but the Merseysiders have regained the outright lead from their rivals in terms of total major honours won.

Not only then is the Liver Bird back on its perch, it is positively alive and kicking with surely more to come.

Return of the match

EXACTLY 100 days after the last ball had been kicked in the Premier League, English football emerged from the grim shadows of the coronavirus pandemic with two completed matches last night.

Villa Park played host to the first game in England featuring a top-flight team held behind closed doors in 37 years since, coincidentally, a game at the same venue during the 1982-83 season. 

Perhaps, after more than three months of waiting, it was destined to finish 0-0.

For relegation-haunted Aston Villa, though, this might yet prove to be a valuable point against high-flying Sheffield United who moved above Wolverhampton Wanderers into the top six.

But the Blades will rightly argue it could have been so much better if either goal-line technology or the video assistant referee (VAR) had given a goal when Oliver Norwood's viscous in-swinging free-kick completely caught out Orjan Nyland.

The Norwegian Villa keeper misjudged the flight of the ball and fell into the side netting before recovering his footing so that he could hold the ball against the upright.

"I think the goalkeeper was in the Holte End when he caught it," fumed Blades boss Chris Wilder afterwards.

The Hawk-Eye system, however, failed to give the goal, with its inventors claiming that all seven of its cameras monitoring the goal were obscured by either the goalkeeper, a defender or the goalpost.

Referee Michael Oliver also failed to consult VAR over a decision which, even to the naked eye, looked like a clear and obvious error.

It was a complete mess all round, and so it had taken less than one half of football for controversy surrounding VAR and officiating to make its own inevitable return to the Premier League.

Manchester City won the later game against a bedraggled Arsenal side at a rain-soaked Etihad Stadium, with Gunners defender David Luiz at the centre of the action for all of the wrong reasons.

Entering the pitch as a substitute for the injured Pablo Mari in the 24th minute, the Brazilian defender allowed the ball to skip off his thigh in first half stoppage-time, letting in Raheem Sterling to score the first goal since the Premier League resumption.

Luiz then hauled down Riyad Mahrez to give away a penalty and was sent off. The suspension will mean he has played his final game for Arsenal unless he extends his deal.

The rest of the second half was largely played out like a training match until, late on, when Man City reduced themselves down to 10 men after goalkeeper Ederson collided heavily into defender Eric Garcia who had to be stretchered off.

In the opening action of the resulting 11 minutes of stoppage time, substitute Phil Foden made it 3-0 after fellow sub Sergio Aguero had hit the post.

And so Man City cut the gap to runaway leaders Liverpool to a mere 22 points with nine matches to play. 

The result last night means Liverpool cannot now win the title in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday - but it simply remains a matter of how long it will take the Reds to win a first title in 30 years.

In all, 90 matches remain to be played in the 2019-20 Premier League season, with 60 of these fixtures (see below) having now been given new set dates and kick-off times. 

A third of these 60 games will be broadcast free-to-air with those on Pick TV, Amazon Prime and the BBC (🔸) all available to a far wider audience than usual.

Indeed, Bournemouth v Crystal Palace on Saturday night will be the first time since the Premier League's inception in 1992 that a top-flight game is shown live on the BBC.

Meanwhile, the FA Cup will be played to a finish with the Final arranged for 1 August - and the Championship season will be completed in full from Saturday onwards.

However, the regular seasons in League One and League Two are already over after a majority of clubs in the bottom two divisions voted to decide the final placings on a points-per-game basis.

In League One, this led to Coventry City being declared champions with Rotherham United also promoted, and Tranmere Rovers, Southend United and Bolton Wanderers relegated.

In League Two, champions Swindon Town jumped above Crewe Alexandra in the final reckoning but Alex were also promoted along with Plymouth Argyle.

Bottom-placed Stevenage or Macclesfield Town will be relegated, pending a Football League decision over whether to deduct points against the latter for a third time following non-payment of players and staff.

Finally, in football terms, European club competitions will make their return throughout August with the Europa League Final in Köln on 21 August and the Champions League Final in Lisbon on 23 August.

And the new 2020-21 season has been tentatively pencilled in to begin, still behind closed doors, in mid-September.

Elsewhere, fears of a summer spent entirely without cricket have been allayed by the arrival of the West Indies squad ahead of their three-Test series which begins on 8 July. 

The matches will be played behind-closed-doors in Southampton and at Old Trafford in Manchester, both venues at which there are on-site hotels in which the two teams can be based. 

Meanwhile, Formula One has yet even to get off the start-line this year due to the pandemic with several races cancelled altogether, including the sport's blue-ribbon event in Monaco.

Thankfully, though, the FIA has now arranged a minimum calendar of eight Grand Prix, the number officially required to constitute a season - with the campaign beginning with back-to-back races on consecutive weekends at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. 

In August, there will also be consecutive Grand Prix at Silverstone - the second of which marks the 70th anniversary of the first ever round of the Formula One World Championship.

The European leg of the season is then set to close with visits to Barcelona, Spa and Monza - ahead of races elsewhere in autumn which are yet to be confirmed. 

Also yet to be scheduled is the conclusion of the Six Nations Championship, with four matches still outstanding - including the whole of the final round.

Of course, the presence of Italy in the Six Nations meant it was unavoidably among the first competitions to be affected. 

But little did we know back in March that the novel coronavirus COVID-19 would end up hitting still yet harder in the UK with the death toll here now standing at 42,288.

Undoubtedly, this is, at the very least in part, a consequence of the delayed lockdown and the well-publicised difficulties with procuring personal protective equipment and reliable testing supplies. 

Poor Government communications have not helped either - and the chaotic messaging from Prime Minister Boris Johnson was completely undermined in any case when his senior advisor Dominic Cummings drove from London to Durham and returned via Barnard Castle while he was ill.

Earlier, towards the start of the crisis, Health Secretary Matt Hancock called out footballers in particular, after some clubs furloughed non-playing staff without having looked at players' wages.

But Mr Hancock's comments appeared to be a convenient deflection tactic as no players had objected to contributing some of their wealth to help their clubs at a time when their finances are in peril. 

Indeed, one player notably has gone further and gone on to use his influence for the good of society as a whole.

Since the beginning of lockdown, Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has helped raise £20m to help feed 400,000 children.

Rashford also launched a campaign to help the homeless, and learned sign language to judge a poetry event in a deaf school. 

Most prominently, though, this week the 22-year-old personally secured a Government u-turn on the extension of the free school meals programme for disadvantaged children during the summer holidays. Wythenshawe 1-0 Westminster.

Of course, England international Rashford's position as a prominent black UK sportsman has not gone unnoticed in this. 

His actions have come against the background of anti-racism protests which were sparked by the killing by American police of black man George Floyd during his arrest in Minneapolis.

The Black Lives Matter movement spread quickly outside of the United States around the world - including to the big cities in the UK. 

Perhaps the most notable incident here came, not in London but in Bristol, where the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was hauled down by protestors in an act which, far from being an attack on history, was history in the making.

On the football field, the BLM movement was marked by all of the players at Villa Park and the Etihad Stadium taking a knee, a form of protest which itself derives from athletes across the Atlantic.

Notably, the players kneeled after the whistle to signal the start of the matches meaning, in effect, the protest was the equivalent of a withdrawal of labour (i.e. strike action). 

It was another reminder that, while the sporting calendar has slowly started to regain a semblance of normality, for hundreds of thousands of people in the UK and millions around the globe, year 2020 will be remembered for a time when everything changed.

PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL
June

Fri 19

6pm ▪️ Norwich City v Southampton ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

8.15pm ▪️ Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United ▪️ SkySports
Sat 20
12.30pm ▪️ Watford v Leicester City ▪️ BT Sport
3pm ▪️ Brighton & Hove Albion v Arsenal ▪️ BT Sport
5.30pm ▪️ West Ham United v Wolverhampton Wanderers ▪️ SkySports
7.45pm ▪️ AFC Bournemouth v Crystal Palace ▪️ BBC 🔸
Sun 21
2pm ▪️ Newcastle United v Sheffield United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
4.15pm ▪️ Aston Villa v Chelsea ▪️ SkySports
7pm ▪️ Everton v Liverpool ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
Mon 22
8pm ▪️ Manchester City v Burnley ▪️ SkySports
Tue 23
6pm ▪️ Leicester City v Brighton & Hove Albion ▪️ SkySports
8.15pm ▪️ Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United ▪️ SkySports
Wed 24
6pm ▪️ Manchester United v Sheffield United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
6pm ▪️ Newcastle United v Aston Villa ▪️ BT Sport
6pm ▪️ Norwich City v Everton ▪️ BBC 🔸
6pm ▪️ Wolverhampton Wanderers v AFC Bournemouth ▪️ BT Sport
8.15pm ▪️ Liverpool v Crystal Palace ▪️ SkySports
Thu 25
6pm ▪️ Burnley v Watford ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
6pm ▪️ Southampton v Arsenal ▪️ SkySports
8.15pm ▪️ Chelsea v Manchester City ▪️ BT Sport
Sat 27
12.30pm ▪️ Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers ▪️ BT Sport
Sun 28
4.30pm ▪️ Watford v Southampton ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
Mon 29
8pm ▪️ Crystal Palace v Burnley ▪️ Amazon Prime 🔸
Tue 30
8pm ▪️ Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

July

Wed 1
6pm ▪️ Arsenal v Norwich City ▪️ BT Sport
6pm ▪️ AFC Bournemouth v Newcastle United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
6pm ▪️ Everton v Leicester City ▪️ SkySports
8.15pm ▪️ West Ham United v Chelsea ▪️ SkySports
Thu 2
6pm ▪️ Sheffield United v Tottenham Hotspur ▪️ SkySports

8.15pm ▪️ Manchester City v Liverpool ▪️ SkySports

Sat 4

12.30pm ▪️ Norwich City v Brighton & Hove Albion ▪️ BT Sport

3pm ▪️ Leicester City v Crystal Palace ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

3pm ▪️ Manchester United v AFC Bournemouth ▪️ BT Sport

5.30pm ▪️ Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal ▪️ SkySports

7.45pm ▪️ Chelsea v Watford ▪️ SkySports

Sun 5

12pm ▪️ Burnley v Sheffield United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

2pm ▪️ Newcastle United v West Ham United ▪️ SkySports

4.30pm ▪️ Liverpool v Aston Villa ▪️ SkySports

7pm ▪️ Southampton v Manchester City ▪️ BBC 🔸

Mon 6

8pm ▪️ Tottenham Hotspur v Everton ▪️ SkySports

Tue 7

6pm ▪️ Crystal Palace v Chelsea ▪️ SkySports

6pm ▪️ Watford v Norwich City ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

8.15pm ▪️ Arsenal v Leicester City ▪️ SkySports

Wed 8

6pm ▪️ Manchester City v Newcastle United ▪️ BT Sport

6pm ▪️ Sheffield United v Wolverhampton Wanderers ▪️ SkySports

6pm ▪️ West Ham United v Burnley ▪️ BT Sport

8.15pm ▪️ Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool ▪️ SkySports

Thu 9

6pm ▪️ AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur ▪️ SkySports
6pm ▪️ Everton v Southampton ▪️ Amazon Prime 🔸

8.15pm ▪️ Aston Villa v Manchester United ▪️ SkySports

Sat 11

12.30pm ▪️ Norwich City v West Ham United ▪️ BT Sport
12.30pm ▪️ Watford v Newcastle United ▪️ Amazon Prime 🔸

3pm ▪️ Liverpool v Burnley ▪️ BT Sport

5.30pm ▪️ Sheffield United v Chelsea ▪️ SkySports

8pm ▪️ Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City ▪️ SkySports

Sun 12
12pm ▪️ Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

2pm ▪️ Aston Villa v Crystal Palace ▪️ SkySports

4.30pm ▪️ Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal ▪️ SkySports

7pm ▪️ AFC Bournemouth v Leicester City ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

Mon 13

8pm ▪️ Manchester United v Southampton ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

Tue 14

8.15pm ▪️ Chelsea v Norwich City ▪️ SkySports

Wed 15

6pm ▪️ Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers ▪️ BBC 🔸

6pm ▪️ Manchester City v AFC Bournemouth ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

6pm ▪️ Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur ▪️ BT Sport

8.15pm ▪️ Arsenal v Liverpool ▪️ SkySports

Thu 16

6pm ▪️ Everton v Aston Villa ▪️ SkySports

6pm ▪️ Leicester City v Sheffield United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸

8.15pm ▪️ Crystal Palace v Manchester United ▪️ BT Sport

8.15pm ▪️ Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion ▪️ BT Sport

Fri 17

8pm ▪️ West Ham United v Watford ▪️ SkySports

Sat 18

5.30pm ▪️ Norwich City v Burnley ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
Sun 19

2pm ▪️ AFC Bournemouth v Southampton ▪️ BT Sport
4pm ▪️ Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City ▪️ SkySports

Mon 20

6pm ▪️ Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United ▪️ SkySports/Pick 🔸
6pm ▪️ Sheffield United v Everton ▪️ Amazon 🔸
8.15pm ▪️ Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace ▪️ BT Sport
Tue 21
6pm ▪️ Watford v Manchester City ▪️ SkySports
8.15pm ▪️ Aston Villa v Arsenal ▪️ SkySports

Wed 22
6pm ▪️ Manchester United v West Ham United ▪️ SkySports
8.15pm ▪️ Liverpool v Chelsea ▪️ SkySports

Sat 26
4pm ▪️ Arsenal v Watford ▪️ tbc
4pm ▪️ Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion ▪️ tbc

4pm ▪️ Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers ▪️ tbc
4pm ▪️ Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur ▪️ tbc

4pm ▪️ Everton v AFC Bournemouth ▪️ tbc
4pm ▪️ Leicester City v Manchester United ▪️ tbc

4pm ▪️ Manchester City v Norwich City ▪️ tbc
4pm ▪️ Newcastle United v Liverpool ▪️ tbc

4pm ▪️ Southampton v Sheffield United ▪️ tbc
4pm ▪️ West Ham United v Aston Villa ▪️ tbc

OTHER FOOTBALL DATES
June
20 Championship season restarts
27 FA Cup QF: Norwich City v Manchester United (5.30pm, BBC)
28 FA Cup QFs: Sheffield United v Arsenal (1pm, BT Sport); Leicester City v Chelsea (4pm, BT Sport); Newcastle United v Manchester City (6.30pm, BBC)
29 League Two playoff final
July
13 League One playoff final
18-19 FA Cup semi finals
21 Championship regular season ends
August
1 FA Cup Final

4 Championship playoff final

5-19 Champions League and Europa League matches

21 Europa League Final
23 Champions League Final
September
12 Proposed start of 2020/21 season

CRICKET
July
8 First Test ▪️ England v West Indies ▪️ Rose Bowl, Southampton
16 Second Test ▪️ England v West Indies ▪️ Old Trafford, Manchester
24 Third Test ▪️ England v West Indies ▪️ Old Trafford, Manchester

August
5 First Test ▪️ England v Pakistan ▪️ Old Trafford, Manchester
13 Second Test ▪️ England v Pakistan ▪️ Rose Bowl, Southampton
21 Third Test ▪️ England v Pakistan ▪️ Rose Bowl, Southampton

28 First T20I ▪️ England v Pakistan ▪️ Rose Bowl, Southampton
30 Second T20I ▪️ England v Pakistan ▪️ Rose Bowl, Southampton

September
1 Third T20I ▪️ England v Pakistan ▪️ Rose Bowl, Southampton

FORMULA ONE
July
5 Austrian GP ▪️ Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
12 Styrian GP ▪️ Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
19 Hungarian GP ▪️ Hungaroring, Mogyoród
August
2 British GP ▪️ Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
9 70th Anniversary GP ▪️ Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
16 Spanish GP ▪️ Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona
30 Belgian GP ▪️ Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
September 
6 Italian GP ▪️ Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 

TENNIS GRAND SLAMS
August
31 US Open begins ▪️ Flushing Meadows, New York
September 
21 French Open begins ▪️ Roland Garros, Paris

GOLF MAJORS
August
6 PGA Championship ▪️ Harding Park, San Francisco, CA
September
17 US Open ▪️ Winged Foot, Mamaroneck, NY
25 Ryder Cup ▪️ Whistling Straits, Haven, WI
November
12 US Masters ▪️ Augusta National, GA

SNOOKER
July 
31 World Championships begin ▪️ The Crucible, Sheffield