Liverpool left to wait and wonder after virus strikes

Liverpool could have been crowned Premier League champions on Monday for the first time in a generation at the home of local rivals Everton. Instead, the stadium will be silent.

Jurgen
Klopp’s team would have needed Manchester City to lose to Burnley on
Saturday to have given them a chance to seal the deal at Goodison Park.

Regardless
of whether it would have happened on Monday or over the coming weeks,
Liverpool’s first top-flight title for 30 years was a mere formality.

But now fans are wondering when, or even if, they will be crowned champions after the coronavirus laid waste to the global sporting calendar.

Chinese clubs rush back home again to avoid virus

Most Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs fled abroad when the deadly coronavirus hit the country but they are now rushing back again as it takes hold elsewhere.

The national side
is still training in Dubai – where many CSL teams also went in recent
weeks – but they too are now making hasty arrangements to get home as
soon as possible.

Wuhan Zall, from the city at the epicentre of the outbreak, had been training in Spain since late January but left at the weekend because of the worsening situation in Europe, now the focal point of the pandemic.

Wuhan will reportedly continue their chaotic pre-season preparations in Shenzhen. Wuhan itself is still in lockdown, despite virus numbers in China reducing.