Which teams could benefit from the COVID-19 league suspensions?
Sports seem trivial in the context of the devastation being caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, but the world of soccer has been severely impacted.
With play unlikely in the next few months and no timeline for a restart, clubs and governing bodies are unable to plan for the near future. And plenty are having financial troubles: even Barcelona have announced their squad will be taking 70% payouts to ease the financial burden. But it must be said that many clubs will actually benefit from the suspension of play.
Most of the benefits come from injured players who will now be able to join in with any restarted league play. Barcelona, for example, will be able to call on Luis Suarez, who was supposed to be out for the rest of the campaign after knee surgery. Real Madrid should now be able to count on Eden Hazard after his ankle surgery in Texas in early March.
In the Premier League, Tottenham would have been without Harry Kane, Heung Min Son and Steven Bergwijn for the closing stages of the campaign, but now their strike force will be boosted for the remaining nine games (if those nine games are played, of course). And Manchester United’s push for the top four will be aided by the return of Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba.
But it’s not just player fitness where the benefits may lie. Liverpool have lost four of their last six games in all competitions—a break of a few months may allow them to refocus, and break a poor streak that may have come from fatigue. And a team like Wolves, who have a thin squad and a packed fixture list with Europa League duties, now have the opportunity to get things back on track.
The break may also benefit teams like West Ham and Watford, who have some time to reapproach their relegation dogfights. And, of course, if the Premier League makes the highly controversial and costly decision to cancel the season, all of the relegation candidates get a free pass.
Regardless of whether games are cancelled, the current situation could certainly benefit Manchester City. Their appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport concerning their two-year Champions League ban is on hold. There’s a good chance, therefore, that the appeal and the punishment are delayed, which means Champions League soccer next season… and the likelihood that Pep Guardiola will stay at the club. No one in the world of soccer would wish for this overwhelmingly negative situation. But, there are a few silver linings here for when we return to normality.
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