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Lunchtime Sports Update

Jun 17, 2020 13:48 By brendan
Lunchtime Sports Update
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Tonight sees the long awaited return of The Premier League.

The first match in 100 days sees Sheffield United travel to Aston Villa.

 

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The Villains are second from bottom after their 4-0 defeat to Leicester City in the last match in the Premier League before the season was halted.

 

Villa boss Dean Smith believes the 14 week break will be of benefit to his side…

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That match between Villa and Sheffield kicks off at 6 o’clock.

 

After that, Champions Manchester City host Arsenal at 8:15.

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City boss Pep Guardiola is pleased the Premier League is back after a difficult period.

 

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The Spaniard's mother passed away in April after contracting coronavirus.

 

Guardiola was un-easy about football's return at first, but is reassured by the safety protocols the top-flight have put into place.

 

Away from the pitch, Newcastle United have received a new 350 million pounds takeover bid from the CEO of US TV company Clear TV, Henry Mauriss.

 

Mauriss is reported to prefer the takeover to happen before the start of the 2020/21 season.

 

In April - the Saudi-backed company “PCP Capital Partners” agreed a deal to buy the club for 300 million pounds which is on hold as it is undergoing the Premier League's owners and directors' Test.

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Elsewhere, Bayern Munich have been crowned champions of the Bundesliga for the 8th season in a row with two games to spare.

 

They celebrated behind closed doors following a 1-0 win away to Werder Bremen.

 

Robert Lewandowski scored the winning goal, his 31st league goal of the season.

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In Irish soccer,

The fifth round of COVID-19 testing at Dundalk, Derry City and Shamrock Rovers produced all negative results.

So far there have been no positive test results at any of the four European qualified sides.

 

Meanwhile, talks will resume today between the FAI and SSE Airtricity Premier Division clubs.

It's hoped a financial package can be agreed to allow clubs return to play.

 

 

 

FORMER SNOOKER STAR Willie Thorne has died at the age of 66 after a short battle with illness.

 

Thorne, who announced he was battling leukaemia in March, had been placed into an induced coma in hospital in Spain over the weekend after suffering respiratory failure.

 

During his snooker career he reached two World Championship quarter-finals and won his only ranking title, the Mercantile Credit Classic, in 1982.

 

A great character of the game, he later commentated on the sport for the BBC, and appeared on the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing.

 

RUGBY

Coronavirus testing at the provinces is set to begin.

 

Players and staff at Leinster and Munster will undergo testing for coronavirus this week ahead of a planned return to training next Monday.

 

If testing goes well, Connacht and Ulster will return to training on Monday week with a view to an inter provincial tournament at the Aviva Stadium on August 22nd..

 

 

 

 

ATHLETICS

The World 100m champion Christian Coleman has been hit with a provision suspension.

 

The Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed that the American missed three drugs tests in 2019.

 

The failures are in breach of World Athletics Anti-Doping rules. Coleman is disputing the 3rd and latest finding. A final decision on the provisional suspension is subject to a hearing.

 

BASKETBALL

The NBA says players who decline to play in next month’s restarted season in Florida will face having their pay docked per game to a maximum of 14 games.

 

Several NBA players have voiced their opposition to resuming the season as a protest against racial discrimination and police brutality in the United States.

 

TENNIS

The US Tennis Association is due to confirm that this year's US Open is going ahead as scheduled.

 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed yesterday he will allow the Grand Slam take place at Flushing Meadows behind closed doors.

 

The tournament will keep its original window of August 31st to September 13th.

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