WITH no end in sight to the coronavirus lockdown, the future of the 2019-20 Premier League season is completely up in the air.
All football was called to a halt in March as the killer bug swept the globe.
Now sporting chiefs are scrambling to find a fair way to end the season if it cannot be finished normally.
The June 1 deadline for finishing the season has been waived and teams can go well into the summer to bring the season to a natural conclusion.
But with the lockdown being extended time and time again, the likelihood of ever being able to finish the season without impacting 2020-21 looks slim.
In fact, there is a growing fear amongst Premier League clubs next season may not be able to start until mid-September.
All 20 clubs are set to meet via video link on Friday to discuss the next steps.
There are a host of scenarios being thrown about as to how to complete the 2019-20.
Ahead of the meeting, we’ve taken a look at three of the most feasible and how it would affect clubs if the season is NOT deemed null and void.
SCENARIO 1 – POINTS PER GAME
LIVERPOOL currently sit 25 points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League – and need a maximum of two wins from their final nine games to end their title drought.
Essentially, the Reds are as good as champions – meaning football bosses are looking for a fair solution.
Basing the season on their points per game is just one option.
In this scenario, each team would have their number of points divided by their number of games.
That number would then be multiplied by 38 (the amount of games in a Premier League season) to determine the final table.
In Liverpool‘s case, their 82 points would be divided by 29 games for a total of 2.83 points per game.
Multiplied by 38, they would finish the season on a sky-high 107 points.
In this instance, Liverpool would finish ahead of Man City, Leicester, Chelsea and Manchester United.
With City banned from European competition for the next two seasons, United would clinch the final Champions League spot – and Sheffield United would gain Europa League football.
In the relegation places, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich would go down.
SCENARIO 2 – SEASON OF TWO HALVES
ONE of the major drawbacks to working out the season based on points per game is the fact the totals are weighted depending on game difficulty.
For example, every team should by now have played all other 19 teams once.
But the nine of ten further matches could have all come against the top teams – or the teams at the foot of the standings.
To make things even more fair, despite the smaller sample size, the season could be worked out on each team’s total points against each of the 19 clubs in their first round of fixtures.
This scenario would see the top of the table and all the European places stay the same, but would see Watford relegated instead of Bournemouth.
SCENARIO 3 – YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE
THE third and most-controversial scenario would use maths and a fair bit of guessing to work out the rest of the season’s results.
The Times revealed any match can be worked out with the right formula.
An article read: “Teams’ home and away form this season can be used to predict any unplayed game.
“For each fixture, the home team’s average points per home game is compared with the away team’s average points per away game, with extra weighting for the past five home and away matches respectively.
“If one team’s figure is at least 0.2 greater than the other, they are winners. Otherwise, the match is drawn.
“Under this model Sheffield United versus Wolves, which was due to be played on Sunday, would go down as a home win — with United having an average home points score of 1.8 and Wolves an away score of 1.4.”
Should this option be played out, Sheffield United would leapfrog Man Utd in the table and go into the Champions League for next season.
The relegation places would be the same as scenario 2, with Watford, Villa and Norwich doomed.
