Why the Premier League is (trying) to play on

Another Premier League fixture has been postponed today (Everton v. Burnley) making a total of three.  At their Zoom meeting on Monday Premier League clubs considered three options.  Option 1”: play on. “Option 2”: postpone a round of festive fixtures, “Option 3”: halt the season.   The meeting has been widely leaked despite pleas to keep it confidential.

The Athletic understands that Liverpool spoke up most strongly in favour of Option 2 — postponing a round of fixtures. The club’s stance was backed up later in the week by their manager, Jurgen Klopp, and captain, Jordan Henderson, who both spoke out at further meetings on Thursday. Sources say that Arsenal also spoke up in favour of shifting a round of fixtures.

But, ultimately, Option 2 remained a minority position with those arguing against it — the clubs who supported Option 1, playing on — claiming there were too many unknowns involved to support the plan. They also argued that such a plan exposed the clubs to too much risk, and that it wasn’t guaranteed to help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 in the first place.

Clubs from right across the Premier League backed Option 1 to form a strong majority.

A key argument advanced by the larger group of clubs arguing for Option 1 was that postponing fixtures was just to kick the can further down the road — and simply too risky.  In their defence, it is very difficult to see how the Premier League will be able to cram in too many more rescheduled matches into their already congested schedule. This is especially true for top-flight clubs still playing in Europe. 

Playing on naturally means that further outbreaks of COVID-19 in English football are more likely than if everyone was sat at home self-isolating in front of the TV. But a short circuit break — similar to the “Option 2” discussed by Premier League clubs earlier this week — wouldn’t necessarily have helped the issue.

There is an unusual international break from January 24 to February 4, which limits the short-term potential for rearranged fixtures. European nations are not in action during this period but there are rearranged World Cup qualifiers in Asia, South America, Central & North America and Oceania. There is then the final global international break of the season, scheduled either side of the final weekend in March, in which some European nations will complete World Cup qualifying with two rounds of play-offs.

Playing on has its risks — but so would only pausing the season momentarily.