Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs... PL teams who will benefit from the 2-month break

Published on: 04 June 2020

After months of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Premier League is almost ready to restart. Games will recommence on June 17th, and continue at a fast pace throughout the summer until finally, the 2019-20 campaign is completed.

Obviously, fans have suffered for a lack of football in the past few months. But could some of the Premier League’s sides have actually seen the suspension as a positive? Surprisingly enough, yes.

Here are 5 Premier League clubs who will have benefited from the 2 months break.

Tottenham Hotspur

2019-20 has been an odd Premier League season for Tottenham from the very beginning. Despite the club bringing in some new players during the summer, including record buy Tanguy Ndombele, the squad has seemed highly unsettled. And naturally, replacing boss Mauricio Pochettino with current manager Jose Mourinho in November only added to the chaos.

To make matters worse though, just weeks into his tenure in North London, Mourinho was plagued with injury problems. Talismanic striker Harry Kane suffered a serious hamstring injury in early January. And just weeks later, attackers Son Heung Min and Steven Bergwijn were both sidelined too.

None of the trio were expected to play much more of a part in 2019-20, meaning Spurs fans were in for a difficult end to the season. In fact, the team had already hit a slump in late February and early March. However, the COVID-19 suspension has changed all of that.

When games recommence, Kane, Son, Bergwijn and Moussa Sissoko – who has also been injured – should be ready to return. And to add to that, Mourinho will have been given more time to work with his players – albeit from a social distance for a long time – and to impose his ideas on the club.

By the time the action restarts, Tottenham’s earlier slump should be forgotten. And Mourinho’s side may well be ready to make a charge towards a top-four spot in the table.

Aston Villa

Promoted from the EFL Championship last season, Aston Villa have found life in the Premier League tricky. Dean Smith’s side have shown flashes of potential, but for the most part, they’ve struggled, and currently sit in 19th place in the Premier League table.

Villa do have a game in hand over their relegation rivals, and if they win that, they’d instantly move into 16th place. Judging by their form prior to the league’s suspension though, that wouldn’t have been easy.

However, after the two-month break, things may well be different. The enforced break will have given the Midlands side a chance to regroup and forget their poor form in February and March. It will also have allowed star man Jack Grealish some must-needed rest.

Even more importantly though, it should see the end of their injury crisis. Midfielder John McGinn, striker Wesley, and goalkeeper Tom Heaton had all been on the shelf for some time prior to the break. The latter two players weren’t even expected to be back until 2020-21.

Now though, all three men should be available to Dean Smith and be raring to go. And the addition of the trio should theoretically give Villa just the boost they need to make a real fight against relegation.

More than any of their fellow strugglers, Villa will have welcomed the break. And they will now likely be relishing the chance to save themselves.

Chelsea

When the Premier League season was suspended back in March, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea were sitting in fourth place. A Champions League spot for 2020-21 looked within their grasp, but realistically there would’ve been a lot of concerns too.

The Blues were faced with a handful of tricky fixtures during their run-in – including matches with Liverpool, Manchester City and Wolves. More to the point, Lampard’s squad was beginning to struggle with a number of injuries in the Premier League.

Key players like Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were all largely unavailable. And others such as Mason Mount appeared to be suffering from burnout. Chelsea’s results hadn’t begun to truly suffer, but it did feel like only a matter of time.

Once the Premier League games restart though, Lampard should have a full-strength squad to be able to call upon. And given his squad is a young one, it’s likely that his players won’t have the same fitness concerns following the break that older players at rival clubs may have.

All of this adds up to the potential that Chelsea could come flying out of the blocks upon the restart. If they can do that and if the likes of Abraham and Mount can find the form they showed earlier in the season – there’s every chance they can remain in the top four.

Liverpool

More than any other club, Liverpool will be relieved that the 2019-20 Premier League season has not been declared null and void. With a 25 point lead at the top of the table, the Reds are almost certain to lift their first-ever Premier League title before the campaign ends.

However, it’s also true that Jurgen Klopp’s team have probably welcomed the two-month break in the Premier League. While Liverpool looked practically unstoppable in the first half of the season, by the time of the COVID-19 suspension, their aura of invincibility had been cracked somewhat.

Not only had they been dumped out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid, but they’d also suffered their first Premier League loss of the season, to strugglers Watford.

Sure, it wasn’t likely to harm their title chances – they bounced back from that loss by beating Bournemouth. But suddenly, the idea of breaking Manchester City’s 100-point record from the 2017-18 Premier League season was looking more unlikely.

The break, however, will have given Klopp’s men a much-needed chance to recharge their batteries. Liverpool have been relatively lucky with injuries this season anyway, but with two months off, their players will definitely have welcomed the rest.

Overall, the Reds have a relatively comfortable run-in. And so if they can recapture the form they showed earlier in the season, there’s every chance that they could smash City’s 100-point record. Liverpool can well and truly end the campaign by matching Klopp’s 109-point target.

Leicester City

When the Premier League season was suspended, Leicester City were sitting pretty in third place in the table. It was looking likely that Brendan Rodgers’ side would achieve a top-four finish and qualify for the 2020-21 Champions League. But it certainly wasn’t certain.

Prior to their March 9th 4-0 win over Aston Villa, the Foxes hadn’t actually won a league game since January 22nd in the Premier League. That poor run left them looking more vulnerable than they’d been in some time. And so with some tricky games ahead of them, a late-season collapse had become a possibility.

That’s why the enforced break is likely to have benefited Rodgers’ men. Sure, the Villa result may have represented the end of their slump. But before that, burnout definitely appeared to be a problem.

Younger players like James Maddison and Youri Tielemans had been struggling to recreate their early season form. And partially due to injury, the goals had even somewhat dried up for Jamie Vardy.

By taking a two-month break, Leicester’s players will have been given a welcome chance to reset themselves. Like Chelsea, Rodgers is lucky enough to have a young squad. That should mean that his players haven’t lost too much fitness. And the likes of Maddison, Tielemans and Harvey Barnes are probably raring to go now.

A few more wins will likely see Leicester cement their top-four spot in the Premier League. And Rodgers will be hoping that the enforced break will give his players the extra energy they need to ensure they can pick up those wins.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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