Arsenal could conclude their season against Manchester City.
Stan Collymore has proposed ending the season on 29 games and taking those final league standings into next season.
Writing in his column in the Daily Mirror, Collymore believes this could be the best way of resolving the current crisis in the Premier League, which has been suspended due to coronavirus.
Many clubs won’t be happy with this, with Arsenal perhaps one in particular who might feel they’d like the season to be finished later to allow them to continue to chase a top four spot, or even just a Europa League place.
Still, if that isn’t possible, it could be sensible to simply play out the final two games in hand: Arsenal against Manchester City, and Sheffield United against Aston Villa.
Of course, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta recently contracted coronavirus himself, so it would depend on the health of everyone at the club being up to scratch before the game against City can realistically take place.
Collymore said: “My solution for the Premier League would be to get all 20 teams to 29 games as quickly as possible.
“It would take just two matches – Sheffield United versus Aston Villa and Manchester City versus Arsenal.
“The Blades and the Villans could even have played behind closed doors this weekend, given that no one from either side has tested positive for COVID-19.
“And while City versus Arsenal is the tricky one given Mikel Arteta’s health, we could get that game done and dusted as soon as everyone from both camps is declared fit.
“Then, at least, everyone would have played the same number of fixtures and we could say that whatever position each team was in after 29 games was the position they had finished in.
“Now, I know that would lead to problems with relegation.
“Because teams will say, ‘Well, hang on, look at our run-in, it’s easier than theirs and we think we’d have got out of trouble’.
“So to avoid any complaints or even litigation, the best thing would be to not relegate anyone.
“On the face of it, that would have ramifications on promotion as well.
“And I don’t want to detract from the success Leeds, West Brom, Coventry, Rotherham, Crewe and Swindon have enjoyed this season. So to keep things fair, I’d promote them all and play with two extra teams in each division next season.
“The key to that working would then be for five teams to go down in a year’s time to reduce the numbers in each division to what they traditionally are.”
Dumbest idea I’ve read from a ‘pundit’ so far
I am with you on that.
This is about the 4th suggestion from a pundit but they will not be deciding what happens, it will be down to the Premier League, the FA and to a lesser extent Uefa.
Hmmm arsenal fan
if it where arsenal at the top of the table, this would have been a brilliant idea. But since we are not in any significant position it has become a dumb idea. Way to go guys, keep showing your colour