Premier League yet to make key decision which affects Aston Villa's survival hopes

The date of the Premier League’s return remains a provisional one for the time being, however; should a second spike of Covid cases emerge, then the threat of the league being curtailed will return

The Premier League and its competing clubs are yet to decide on a plan regarding relegation if the season is not completed.

Aston Villa, who currently sit in the bottom three alongside Bournemouth and Norwich City, have a game in hand over their rivals and are set to tackle Sheffield United on June 17 as the top flight in English football attempts to restart and complete the campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic.

They are currently two points adrift of safety with ten matches still to play, and the go ahead to complete the remaining fixtures received a largely positive response when the date was confirmed on Thursday.

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The date of the Premier League’s return remains a provisional one for the time being, however; should a second spike of Covid cases emerge, then the threat of the league being curtailed will return.

If that comes to pass, then the League and the participating clubs haven’t yet a agreement in place that will settle the difficult subject of relegation if the season if the season cannot be completed on the pitch.

For Villa, they’ll feel as though there are plenty of points still to play for, and that a number of clubs above them are within their reach; Brighton, Watford and West Ham are all within four points of Villa, and all of them have played a game more.

Bournemouth, who have the same number of points as both Watford and West Ham, would also not accept the fate of relegation via a points per game average without a fight, either.

The Telegraph reports that such a subject concerns more than just those clubs who are currently in danger of the drop; there are sides such as Burnley, as an example, who might find themselves in a less comfortable position if a second spike emerges in the next campaign.

An agreement that can be applied to any affected campaign for the foreseeable future, then, must be reached.

Indeed, with the bottom of the table so tight, the picture could change from week to week depending on the results of the matches involving those sides.