Liverpool
legend Phil Thompson does not feel the Premier League will resume action on
the scheduled return date of April 4.
Top-flight fixtures have been suspended until that date as part of measures
to combat the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to almost all major
sporting events around the world being postponed.
The Premier League will meet on Thursday to establish a plan of action and
Thompson hopes the fixture list can be completed - and his former club
Liverpool can end a 30-year wait for the title - but he does not feel that
players will return to action within a month.
When asked if it was too optimistic that the season could resume on April 4,
Thompson said: "I would think so. I think they're just giving themselves
breathing time and it's very difficult to see it get up and running then.
"They'll be having meetings and every day it will change. I'm watching Sky
News every day and it's changing by the hour. Things are changing all the
time.
"Playing behind closed doors is a contentious issue. I believe football is
nothing without the fans, it's a fans game and I like to think it could
resume and the fixtures will be completed.
"As Jurgen Klopp said there are bigger issues to be concerned about but it
would be good to get the fixtures completed because there's so many issues
to be decided."
It has been suggested by West Ham vice chairman Karren Brady that the season
should be declared null and void, an option which would deprive Liverpool of
the league title and also, Thompson feels, create problems elsewhere in the
division.
"There's still ramifications even if you do that," he said. "What do you do
with the teams in the Champions League positions? Because Leicester City are
quite healthily in third, they'd be extremely worried if you went to the
teams that finished in the top four last season.
"There are still going to be problems. It won't just ended with it being
null and void. It's an extremely serious and unprecedented situation.
"But it's not like Liverpool are two points clear, they're 25 points clear
and we're three-quarters of the way through the season. It would be
extremely hard to say Liverpool aren't champions."
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