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MARVELOUS NAKAMBA’s debut adventure in the English Premiership could end up with relegation with his club, Aston Villa, losing their top-flight status if the league endorses UEFA recommendation to work out the final league table.

European football’s governing body held another meeting yesterday where they discussed the ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Premier League are committed to complete the season but know that contingency plans will have to be put into place if it is not possible to play all the remaining fixtures. UEFA have decided that if leagues do not finish, then European places will be allocated on “sporting merit”.

That means a points-per-game system would be used to allocate Champions League and Europa League qualification and, at the other end of the table, this would see Villa finish in the relegation zone if the Premier League then decide to implement it across the league.

Dean Smith’s side will end up 19th, under that proposal, with 0.89 points per game while Norwich City (0.72), would finish bottom and Bournemouth 18th (0.93).

The prospect of deciding the league table without playing out the full season would be met with stern opposition from all three clubs, as well as those potentially denied qualification for European competitions. Villa are two points from safety but have a game in hand on their relegation rivals and still have 10 games left.

Former Manchester United captain, Gary Neville, has revealed he now thinks it’s unlikely the Premier League season will be completed. But Neville, who has been involved in discussions as co-owner of Salford City, is now convinced remaining fixtures will be written off altogether.

“It feels like a parallel universe,” the former Manchester United full-back told Sky Sports. “I have meetings with our two hotels, where we’re being told that people won’t be able to sit within two metres at restaurants, capacity will be down to 50 percent.

“Then you go into a meeting an hour later on football where they’re talking about players playing football, jumping for headers against each other, and you think well, hang on a second, I’ve just been in a meeting where we’re told you can’t even have people sitting at a table without being two metres apart.

“It just doesn’t work. I thought a month or two ago that football could continue, that we could get behind closed doors, but now I’m very, very doubtful the more I hear, the more I listen. One thing is, an employer cannot put an employee at risk based on health and safety grounds, there will be a liability issue for employers.

“As a Salford City owner, I’ve got players who have potentially got diabetes, asthma, am I going to put them on the field and risk their safety for a game of football? The answer is quite simply no. I’m not sure how Premier League clubs will get around it.

“The testing thing is nonsense, there is no way the Premier League can sell to the public that they’re going to have access to tens of thousands of tests while the front line workers are forgotten.”

Yesterday, UEFA urged clubs to “explore all possible options” to finish domestic seasons and use “a different format” if needed in order for teams to qualify for European competitions. Uefa said it could “refuse or evaluate” selected teams if necessary.

But, after a video call meeting of all 55 national associations, it is clear UEFA want on-field performance to determine which clubs make up next season’s Champions League and Europa League competitions despite the current shutdown of major leagues because of the coronavirus pandemic. — Live/BBC/Sports Reporter.