By Agencies
The Premier League will return to action on June 17, more than three months after the season was halted due to the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a BBC report.
Representatives from all 20 clubs met on Thursday, 24 hours after teams agreed to the second phase of restarting the season with players working in larger groups.
Squads were only allowed to restart practice sessions in small groups last week but contact and tackling is now allowed between players.
The four teams that have games in hand will restart the season with relegation-threatened Aston Villa hosting Sheffield United and Manchester City taking on Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
A full fixture list will then be played on the weekend of June 19-21 with all matches being played behind closed doors for the first time in competition’s history.
Four individuals connected to three clubs tested positive for coronavirus in the league’s third round of testing, with 1,008 staff from Premier League clubs tested.
Liverpool lead the table by 25 points and need just two wins from their final nine matches to win a first league title in 30 years.
The picture is equally encouraging in the Championship, where only three positive results were returned from 1,030 tests.
Blackburn captain Elliott Bennett and two unnamed Fulham players were the ones to test positive.
The German Bundesliga made a successful return two weeks ago and the La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy are set to announce resumption dates soon.
