The English Premier League have announced an amendment to the way they will decide where clubs who finish the season level on points will stand in the table.
A head-to-head rule will be introduced, which means that teams finished with the same number of points in competition for important places like playing for the title, the Champions League qualification, or for relegation, their record in head-to-head bouts will be applied in order to separate them.
Before this change, for teams who finished level on points, goal difference and number of goal scored would be used against them in a playoff.
Starting this season, the club who have the most points in the head-to-head bouts between the teams with the same points, goal difference and number of goals scored, will sit above the other.
However, if by chance the team cannot be separated, the one who scored the most away goals will get the highest position. If the teams at this level remain the same, a playoff will have to be arranged, and have to be at a neutral place. The format, timing and venue will be determined by the Premier League Board.
Aside from this new alteration, the Premier League will also have a few firsts. Onel Hernandez will be the first Cuban to play in the Premier League. He will be part of Norwich City FC. A mid-season break will give each team a two week vacation, and for the first time, the VAR will be used in the Premier League. EPL will also have eight fixtures including the opening games between Bournemouth and Sheffield United and Aston Villa versus Brighton.
Last season, Cardiff’s Neil Etheridge became the first Filipino international and the first South East Asian to play in England’s top tier. Unfortunately, Cardiff was relegated at the end of the season.
