CAPE TOWN – The Premier League are due to hold talks after widespread reports claiming the season could be called off early due to the coronavirus risk.
Should that happen, Liverpool would be prevented from winning their first ever Premier League title, despite holding what appears to be an unssailable 22-point lead over reigning league champions and second place Manchester City.
According to The Liverpool Echo, Premier League chiefs are set to hold talks to discuss what should be done if the season was to be cut short. There are currently no rules or guidelines about what to do, the report goes on to state.
In turn, the Premier League has insisted that there are “plenty of solutions” available, but no concrete plans have been made.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said at his press conference on Friday that his team was preparing as normal for their game against Watford.
Liverpool are taking coronavirus precautions 'very seriously'. pic.twitter.com/c3YQetiipR
— Liverpool FC News (@LivEchoLFC) February 28, 2020
“We cannot do anything different. We take it seriously, but we haven’t told anyone not to shake hands. We cannot do more than we are here. We haven’t been told we cannot play so we will,” said Klopp.
“We take it serious but we don’t go crazy with it,” the German added.
Reports on Friday suggested that Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce had told his players not to shake hands with each other during training to be on the safe side. Last week, games in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy were called off after the virus spread in those countries.