Coronavirus: What is the state of play in the Premier League as the competition returns to screens
As teams take to the field after a hiatus of more than three months, many will be fighting for league survival.
Wednesday 17 June 2020 10:26, UK
After an unplanned break of more than three months, top flight football in England will return to screens today, as teams look to get their league campaigns back on track.
In the Premier League, Liverpool look nailed-on to win their first top flight title in 30 years, while Norwich City, Aston Villa and Bournemouth fight for survival.
Meanwhile in the Championship, before it was interrupted by the pandemic, Leeds United were on course to win promotion to the Premier League, alongside West Bromwich Albion, with teams like Luton Town and Barnsley looking at relegation.
To get ready for the restart of the season, Sky News has rounded up the pre-pandemic state-of-play of the teams in the top two tiers of English football.
The Premier League
Who is at the top of the table?
Before the league stopped, Liverpool were 25 points clear of nearest rivals and current champions Manchester City, leaving the title well within their reach with nine games left to play. After only losing one game this season, the title appears to be theirs to lose.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was praised for his calm comments when the league was halted, when he said "today, football and football matches don't seem very important at all," despite a major chance the pandemic could have cost his team their first ever Premier League silverware.
The battle for the European places
Just below Liverpool and Manchester City, a number of teams are battling for places in next season's Champions League competition in Europe - which are given to those teams who finish in the top four.
Leicester and Chelsea lay in third and fourth place respectively, but Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United are all snapping at their heels, with London clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal behind them.
The team in fifth place will move through to the Europa League competition next season - currently Manchester United.
Which teams could drop out the Premier League?
At the bottom of the table, Norwich City, Aston Villa and Bournemouth have spent the last three months facing relegation, and will look to move away from the bottom of the table and secure their future in the league.
West Ham and Watford are on the same number of points as Bournemouth heading into the league restart and risk slipping into the relegation places, so will be looking over their shoulders in the next few weeks.
Sky Sports News has analysed every team heading into the season restart, which you can read .
The Championship
Who is heading for promotion?
Leeds United are sitting at the top of England's second tier, and are looking to make a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2004, alongside West Bromwich Albion, who are in second place.
Below them, Fulham, Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Preston North End are all in Premier League play-off places, but could move in to the automatic promotion spots as the next few weeks get moving.
Other teams in reaching distance of promotion play-offs include Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall.
Which teams could drop out of the Championship?
At the other end of the table, Charlton Athletic, Luton Town and Barnsley all face dropping into League One after occupying the bottom three spots of the league over the coronavirus-enforced break.
They will be looking to leapfrog teams such as Hull City, Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough to stay in the Championship.
Stoke City and Huddersfield town, although above the relegation zone, could end up dropping down if the season does not go their way.
You can read the full story so far from the Championship by Sky Sports News .
The long-awaited return of live football starts on Wednesday night on Sky Sports Premier League, when Aston Villa host Sheffield United, followed by Arsenal's trip to Manchester City.
Twenty-five of the remaining 64 Premier League games shown on Sky Sports will be made free-to-air.
Championship football gets underway again on Saturday 20 June with a host of fixtures - starting with Fulham v Brentford at 12.30 live on Sky Sports Football.
With games being played behind closed doors due to social distancing rules, Sky Sports viewers will be able to choose the option have crowd noise played out while they watch - you can find out more .