Premier League 2020/21

Seth

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Welcome to the Premier League 2020/2021!

EPL will start on 12 September 2020 with the final matchday on 23 May 2021. They also posted some new shirts as well, although it looks like they were worn this past weekend. Or at least Man City did as that's the match I watched.

Here are the teams for the 2020/21 season (in order of 2020 finish):

Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Chelsea
Leicester City
Tottenham Hotspur
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arsenal
Sheffield United
Burnley
Southampton
Everton
Newcastle United
Crystal Palace
Brighton and Hove Albion
West Ham United
Aston Villa

Relegated
Bournemouth
Watford
Norwich City

Promoted
Leeds United
West Bromwich Albion
TBD - playoff finals on 4 August 2020 (Swansea City, Brentford, Cardiff City, or Fulham)

Sources:
https://www.premierleague.com/news/1738346 - schedule
https://www.premierleague.com/news/1701595 - new shirts
https://www.efl.com/news/2020/july/sky-bet-championship-play-offs-fixtures-confirmed/ - EFL playoffs

Tip o' the hat to Shwafta Shwafta whose Bundesliga 20/21 post I totally ripped off. Thanks!

Note: this all started because I was curious as to when the new season would start considering it would normally be next weekend except for the fact they just finished this past season this past weekend.
 
I'm really happy to have Leeds back less so WBA. I suppose I want Brentford over the Welsh or same old same old yo-yo Fulham now. Of course glad City didn't get the Euro ban and the team won't break apart though losing David Silva is a bit of a blow still.
 
I'm pumped to have Bielsa in the same league as Pep and Klopp and Carlo. Mou can get stuffed, as usual. I feel so sorry for Spurs fans.

Chelsea will be an exciting watch next season with Pulisic, Ziyech, Werner and probably Havertz all in the attacking band, and hopefully Kanté can return to his rightful place as the world's best #6.

Everton, I hope, will begin to emerge from under the terrible player contracts that have been weighing the roster down and Carlo can start to construct a coherent squad with the aim of chasing a Europa League spot.

Excited to see Arteta have a transfer window and a full season to start putting some ideas together at Arsenal. Their youth players also have exciting potential.

I still don't think OGS is a great manager, but once Bruno came aboard and Pogba returned to fitness that squad really came together. They should be fun next season, especially if they add Jadon Sancho.

Looking forward to it all!
 
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NBC did a full 180 this season. This weekend with big matchups has only 2 games broadcast nationally. Haven’t been a fan of peacock. They don’t allow you to cast the stream from iPhone to tv and they’re not available on all smart tv’s.
This really sucks.
Chelsea Liverpool won’t be broadcast.
mom going to miss waking up at 7 and being able to watch football until 2pm.
 
NBC did a full 180 this season. This weekend with big matchups has only 2 games broadcast nationally. Haven’t been a fan of peacock. They don’t allow you to cast the stream from iPhone to tv and they’re not available on all smart tv’s.
This really sucks.
Chelsea Liverpool won’t be broadcast.
mom going to miss waking up at 7 and being able to watch football until 2pm.

yea - seems like a lot less games are available for free now. sucks!
 
NBC did a full 180 this season. This weekend with big matchups has only 2 games broadcast nationally. Haven’t been a fan of peacock. They don’t allow you to cast the stream from iPhone to tv and they’re not available on all smart tv’s.
This really sucks.
Chelsea Liverpool won’t be broadcast.
mom going to miss waking up at 7 and being able to watch football until 2pm.


Looks like it is coming: " Peacock will be available to stream on Roku in the coming weeks. "

Roku and Comcast reach agreement to carry Peacock on Roku
 
Roku is such bullshit. You think you are buying a neutral device for streaming content. In reality, they are charging the streaming services money for access to your box.
 
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Another device to buy. Buy a smart tv to stream stuff only to have to buy a usb device to stream more stuff lol.
Even with devices and the Peacock app you still need a subscription to watch the matches, at least for this weekend. Next weekend it'll be back to three matches on NBCSN with the extra matches on Peacock. So basically back to the way it was except it's now Peacock instead of Gold I guess.
 
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Even with devices and the Peacock app you still need a subscription to watch the matches, at least for this weekend. Next weekend it'll be back to three matches on NBCSN with the extra matches on Peacock. So basically back to the way it was except it's now Peacock instead of Gold I guess.

Yeah this seems like NBC trying to push Peacock and trying to push people to buy the product. Hopefully they'll go back to normal once they get their shiny new toy some subscribers.
 
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Yeah this seems like NBC trying to push Peacock and trying to push people to buy the product. Hopefully they'll go back to normal once they get their shiny new toy some subscribers.
Found the app on PS4 so I’m good now. Didn’t enjoy watching it on my phone the last two weeks.
 
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So anyone read about this "Project Big Picture" thing ? Any thoughts? I think it might be good for the lower leagues but terrible for the competitive balance of the Premier League.
 
So anyone read about this "Project Big Picture" thing ? Any thoughts? I think it might be good for the lower leagues but terrible for the competitive balance of the Premier League.

i never liked the idea of a league cup....i say this because the FA cup exists already. AND there are lower league equivalents of a league cup where teams in league 1/2 and lower already participate

i dont know if reducing the amount of teams is the way to go but that fixture congestion is really bad at times. i dont like eliminating the one team one vote, if you all part of the league then equal say. that being said, it seems thats the tradeoff that must happen if they are to help the EFL and prevent any more situations like bury, bolton or even sunderland now.

if it goes ahead it will be massive though.
 
i never liked the idea of a league cup....i say this because the FA cup exists already. AND there are lower league equivalents of a league cup where teams in league 1/2 and lower already participate

i dont know if reducing the amount of teams is the way to go but that fixture congestion is really bad at times. i dont like eliminating the one team one vote, if you all part of the league then equal say. that being said, it seems thats the tradeoff that must happen if they are to help the EFL and prevent any more situations like bury, bolton or even sunderland now.

if it goes ahead it will be massive though.
According to Germany, 18 teams is the optimal number.

 
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So anyone read about this "Project Big Picture" thing ? Any thoughts? I think it might be good for the lower leagues but terrible for the competitive balance of the Premier League.
Would love for them to get rid of the League Cup, but I feel like the big clubs are holding a gun to the head of lower league clubs. They know the lower league teams are desperate for cash at this moment and will use that as leverage. Will be a sad day if they get rid of the one vote rule.
 
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Uncomfortable truth:

While people have worried about plans to overhaul UCL in a way that fully protects the top 12-20 teams in Europe from competition from outsiders, and potentially turn the domestic leagues into complete afterthoughts, the fact is that UEFA Champions League already has a perverting and corrupting influence on domestic European soccer leagues. To become and remain competitive in UCL requires a consistent and uninterrupted massive income stream that can only be maintained by structurally non-competitive domestic leagues, and the assurance that provides that a handful of domestic teams ever has any chance of competing at the top.

Over the last decade or so, England has had more champions, flukes and turnover than any Big 5 European League. Even England's Big 6 or so teams is too big and causes disruption because, even without interlopers like Leicester, the top group still cannot be certain of UCL qualifying.

As a result, England's UCL records based on Wins and Final Appearances over the last 10-12 years lags 3 teams from Spain and barely keeps pace with 2 German teams, despite the PL being by far the richest league on the planet, and precisely because England has too many teams who, in theory, should be able to compete for a UCL championship. To really compete in UCL the PL probably needs to reduce it's top teams to a number fewer than England's UCL spots, so those remaining teams can know they will never fail to reach UCL and suffer a disruption to ther UCL-based income. That is probably not realistic, so the top 6 are trying to do the next best thing, which is simultaneously push more money to the bottom of the pyramid and to a super-miniscule portion of the top, while squeezing the very, very good, almost there, but not quite elite, so they can never pester the truly elite again.

If you want more competitive European domestic leagues you have to fundamentally reform the UCL, and probably impose severe restrictions on player freedom of movement, both of which are not even worth discussing as a realistic option.