English Premier League to restart from June 17: Report

London: The English Premier League season will resume on June 17 with Aston Villa taking on Sheffield United and Manchester City locking horns with Arsenal in the big game, as per a BBC report.

All four teams have a game in hand and these two fixtures were still to be played when the league stopped.

A full fixture list would be played on the weekend of June 19-21, the report said.

Premier League teams had on Wednesday given their approval to begin contact training as England move a step forward in resuming its top-tier football league. All football in the country has been suspended since March due to coronavirus pandemic.

The players returned to individual and small group training last week as officials continue to target mid-June as a possible return date for resumption of matches.

Meanwhile, two players from Fulham tested positive for coronavirus in the latest round of results that the English Football League Championship club announced on Thursday.

Tests were carried out on 1,030 players and staff between Monday and Wednesday, the EFL said. Apart from the two Fulham players, only one more positive test has come thus far. The EFL hopes for a resumption of the season next month.

Earlier, four more positive tests came from the Premier League, raising the total number to 12 across the league.

The four cases have come from three clubs, with the league not announcing the names of those who tested positive for COVID-19.