What's new in the 2019/20 Premier League season?

By Stuart Stone

- Last updated on GMT

We are the champions: Manchester City won the league last season (image: Getty)
We are the champions: Manchester City won the league last season (image: Getty)
The use of head-to-head records to separate teams level on points, and the Premier League’s first Cuban player – Norwich’s Onel Hernandez – aren’t the only top-flight debuts to look out for in the new Premier League season

August Premier League fixtures

Friday 9 August​– Liverpool v Norwich City – Sky Sports

Saturday 10 August

West Ham v Manchester City – BT Sport

Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa – Sky Sports

Sunday 11 August 

Newcastle United v Arsenal – Sky Sports

Manchester United v Chelsea – Sky Sports

Saturday 17 August

Arsenal v Burnley – BT Sport

Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur – Sky Sports

Sunday 18 August

Sheffield United v Crystal Palace – Sky Sports

Chelsea v Leicester City – Sky Sports

Monday 19 August​- Wolves v Manchester United – Sky Sports

Friday 23 August​- Aston Villa v Everton – Sky Sports

Saturday 24 August

Norwich City v Chelsea – BT Sport

Liverpool v Arsenal – Sky Sports

Sunday 25 August

Bournemouth v Manchester City – Sky Sports

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United – Sky Sports

Saturday 31 August

Southampton v Manchester United – BT Sport

Burnley v Liverpool – Sky Sports

Of the 380 Premier League fixtures to be played out over the 2019-20 season, 200 will be televised – 32 more than last season as the total number of broadcast games rose from 168 to 200.

Of these fixtures, 128 will be shown by Sky Sports, 52 by BT Sport and 20 by Amazon – whose first foray into live football will see the tech giant broadcast 10 fixtures on Boxing Day and 10 on one bank holiday.

Amazon

It’s been a landmark 2019 for Amazon. Far from the Jeff Bezos behemoth suffering a quarter life crisis in its 25th​year, the internet company has shown no signs of wanting to quit its job, get (more) tattoos, and go backpacking in south-east Asia.

In scooping rights to 20 Premier League games, Amazon has sent digital shockwaves across a contest traditionally dominated by Sky Sports and BT Sport. 

As reported by The Morning Advertiser​, Amazon Prime’s exclusive Premier League fixtures for the 2019-20 season will be made available to pubs and clubs via the ‘Amazon Premier League pass’.

New fixtures

Next season will not only bring more televised fixtures than ever before, but eight match-ups that have never before been played in the Premier League – five of which involve Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United.

In the time it’s taken the Blades to return to the Premier League since relegation under Neil Warnock in 2007, Bournemouth, Brighton and Burnley have all made their Premier League bow. What’s more, Sheffield United have never faced Wolves or Leicester City in the Premier League.

Additionally, Burnley v Norwich, Aston Villa v Brighton and Brighton v Norwich will also be played in the Premier League for the first-time next season after play-off winners Villa and Championship winners Norwich won promotion last season.

Saturday night kick-offs

Along with new clashes and broadcasters, the coming season also heralds the introduction of eight fixtures kicking off at 7.45pm on Saturday to be broadcast by Sky Sports.

Double headers

After the watershed Women’s World Cup this summer – which saw 11.7m viewers tune in to watch Phil Neville’s Lionesses bow out at the semi-­final stage against eventual winners the United States - The Football Association has con­firmed some Women’s Super League (WSL) matches will be played as double headers alongside Premier League fixtures next season.

Is this an opportunity for match-day pubs to encourage fans to start their visit earlier, or will it encourage them to cut their pub stint short to head to the stadium for a WSL fixture before a Premier League kick off?

Mid-season break

After an agreement between The Football Association, the Premier League and the EFL (English Football League), the 2019-20 campaign will be the first to feature a mid-season players’ break.

It means one round of fixtures in February will be split over two weekends – with five matches taking place over the weekend of 8 February 2020 and five taking place during the following weekend.

Video assistant referee

Saving the best until last? The divisive technology is set to be used in the Premier League for the first time this season.

The gradual spread of the video assistant referee (VAR) system throughout world football since the 2018 Russia World Cup has evoked an angry response from football’s purists who argue it’s too disruptive; compromises the experience of match-going fans; and can’t stand the sight of dismayed players drawing the outline of a TV with their fingers.

Will more, VAR-induced, suspense add a new element to pub atmosphere during Premier League fixtures?

Facts 'n' stats

Liverpool​– the most popular Premier League team last season according to pubgoers. The six most searched for fixtures on MatchPint’s app all involved Jurgen Klopp’s side.

One in three​– close to a third of fans polled by MatchPint believe they watched between 81 and 168 televised Premier League games last season.

43%​- Premier League football accounts for 43% of the total incremental wet sales during sport throughout an entire year according to MatchPint

Lager​– the drink of choice for around 75% of those watching the Premier League in a pub – the next most popular options were ale and cider.

2.1m​– the ​number of adults who watch live sport on TV out of home at least once a week according to Ipsos MORI

25%​- only one in four fans considered price as ‘very important’ when choosing a pub to watch the Premier League according to MatchPint

£20,000 per year​– on average, the amount pubs pay to subscribe to Sky Sports and BT Sport according to The Guardian

Four​– of the 100 most searched Premier League fixtures on MatchPint’s app, all but four involved one of the ‘big six’ (Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool)

£30,000 per year​– the incremental sales seen by the average pub broadcasting football according to MatchPint

75%​- around three quarters of fans are more likely to watch a top six clash at a pub, versus less than 20% who’d opt to watch at home

Big screen, location and commentary available​– the three most important factors in choosing a pub according to MatchPint 

Saturday, 5.30pm​– the most popular time to watch a match at a pub according to MatchPint, followed by Sunday 4pm and Sunday 2pm.

78%​– ​the percentage of Sky customers who agree that the more Premier League games they show, the more money they make according to Ipsos MORI

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