PARIS — Liverpool are set to finally end their 30-year wait to be champions of England after Uefa ruled out the Premier League season being declared “null and void”.
— Dailymail
European football’s governing body insisted that domestic campaigns would be settled on “sporting merit” on Thursday if they cannot be finished.
The Premier League was suspended last month due to the spread of coronavirus and remains on an indefinite hiatus with lockdown in full effect.
Reds fans had been concerned that the pandemic would deny them a first league title since 1990, but Uefa’s directive appears to have taken that possibility off the table.
It is likely that Champions League places will be decided on a points-per-game (PPG) basis if remaining matches cannot be played.
A play-off could also be held, but Premier League clubs are believed to favour PPG as the fairest method.
Liverpool are 25 points ahead of second-placed Manchester City and 37 clear of Manchester United in fifth with just nine games remaining.
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Jurgen Klopp’s side have won 27 of their 29 games this season, dropping points only twice. They were held by Manchester United at Old Trafford in October before their unbeaten run came to an end in February with a shock defeat at Watford. While Uefa prefers seasons to be played out, if that is not possible they want each nation to select qualifying clubs “based on sporting merit in the 2019-20 domestic competitions”.
Choosing a mechanism would be up to each nation. However, it is most likely that clubs would have a points-per-game figure worked out, which would then be used to calculate who qualifies.
Uefa say whichever procedure is chosen should be “based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory principles”.
They added: “National associations and leagues should otherwise have the ability to decide the final positions in their domestic competitions, having regard to the specific circumstances of each competition.”
