Premier League plan to kick off Project Restart with Tottenham vs Man Utd

The Premier League intend to kick off the restart of club action with Manchester United’s away clash against Tottenham.

However the original restart date of June 12 is set to be scrapped after clubs insisted players needed three weeks of full contact training before playing games.

Football has been on hold since the start of March due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the lockdown in the UK. ESPN claim meetings will take place this week to determine the restart date, which is likely to be Friday night.

League chiefs are now targeting June 19 or June 29, as clubs are concerned about the risk of injury to their players if games resume too soon. Arsenal star Dani Ceballos had already let slip the restart date had been pushed back when he said the Gunners were expecting to return to action on June 20.

Players returned to training last week, but sessions are limited to small groups and low-contact drills.

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There is yet to be a final decision on when full contact should resume and there is a meeting between shareholders is in the books for this week to settle on a ‘risk assessment and mitigation plan’.

There is also the issue of keeping players on side after Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante became the latest high-profile footballer to refuse to return to training.

Kante did take part in the first session last week, but has since decided – with the full backing of Frank Lampard and his club – that he will not train with his team-mates.

Chelsea are prepared for Kante to miss the rest of the season as the Frenchman has a history of heart problems in his family and once passed out in a training session.

Watford captain Troy Deeney has a baby with breathing difficulties and has ruled out returning to football for the time being, insisting he did not think league chiefs had enough protocols in place to support BAME players.

Two more positive cases were discovered in the second round of coronavirus testing last week.

Bournemouth confirmed one individual at the club had tested positive, with Watford, Burnley and Brighton also announcing they had cases.

There are 92 top-flight fixtures remaining and United’s game against Tottenham will be tasty re-introduction to football for the fans.

United’s former boss Jose Mourinho is at the helm at Tottenham and it is just the second time the Portuguese has faced the Red Devils as Spurs manager.

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