After the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’ plans finally came to fruition, top-flight football in England is set to return on June 17.
With hopes that the campaign can be finished before the end of July, clubs and players will have to navigate a packed schedule with games set to be played on all seven days of the week.
In many ways, football will look very different, as fans of the Bundesliga have already found.
Goal brings you the major changes set to be implemented as play resumes.
Will any fans be allowed to attend Premier League matches?
As things stand, all Premier League matches for the remainder of the 2019-20 season will be played behind closed doors.
That means no fans will be allowed in stadiums. Supporters will also be discouraged from congregating outside grounds, as doing so would undermine social distancing efforts.
The Independent have reported that plans are being put together to have some fans back in stadiums by the autumn of 2020, though full-capacity crowds aren’t expected until 2021.
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However, a number of options are being explored to create a more normal experience for fans watching at home.
Sky Sports and BT Sport have confirmed that team-specific artificial crowd noise will be an option for fans watching their live games, with fans also able to influence which chants are used during the game.
General crowd noise is played throughout the match, with specific chants and reactions to different events added in live by a producer.
How many substitutes are Premier League teams allowed when the season restarts?
Premier League clubs will be able to make five substitutions per game, rather than three, until the end of the 2019-20 season.
In addition, managers will be able to name a subs bench of nine players rather than seven.
Other major leagues have followed suit following approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs the rules of the game.
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Substitutes are likely to have to sit apart from each other in the stadium while not playing, as has been observed in the Bundesliga.
It is hoped that the added substitutions will allow clubs to better manage player fitness amid concerns that players will be more susceptible to injuries after three months away.
However, some have raised concerns that the rules will favour bigger clubs, likely to have a higher calibre of player outside their starting XI.
How to watch Premier League 2019-20 games after restart
In the UK, Premier League matches will be shown live on Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and the BBC.
The BBC will televise four games – the first time live Premier League matches have been available on the BBC.
Sky Sports will show 25 of their total of 64 live games on free-to-air UK TV as part of an agreement with the UK government.
With Sky Go and the BT Sport Live app, both Sky Sports and BT Sport have live streaming services available.
In the US, Premier League games will be shown live across the NBC Sports network.
Click here for full game-by-game details of how to watch the Premier League in the UK and the US.
