The Premier League’s Director of Policy Bill Bush has written to clubs to inform them that no more than four matches could now be held at neutral venues. It emerged last week that a number of Premier League matches were set to be played at neutral venues when the 2019/20 campaign resumes on June 17. There have been concerns about matches involving Liverpool that their fans may gather outside Anfield when Liverpool wins the league, a possibility of which may be at Goodison Park when they play Everton.
Bill Bush said “Merseyside Police released a further statement on Friday that, in their view, the Premier League matches scheduled for their area were within their capacity to cover, From further enquiries, I understand that the process of review continues at the other two local police forces which had previously requested fixtures be moved. Of course, in the current circumstances, risks still remain and, as a fallback, we will continue to prepare for neutral venues for any match, in case they are needed, so that we can react swiftly to any withdrawal of a safety certificate. However, it would appear that there is every possibility that the final list of matches proposed for movement to neutral venues for policing reasons will be reduced to a maximum of four, depending on the final decisions by Greater Manchester Police and Northumbria Police.”