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A NEW season means plenty of new changes for football fans as the Premier League returns this weekend.
Rules are having a massive overhaul with some crucial changes to how the game will be refereed.
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There’ll also be changes to how viewers will watch the action and how they find out team news before kick off.
New rules
New laws will see refs look to cut down on excessive added time during games.
Last year rule changes saw more additional time added on to punish time wasting, but this saw the duration of games skyrocket over the first half of the season.
That was informally phased away as the season went on, and now new laws have been put in place – with just 30 seconds added on now per goal scored.
The Premier League said it is expecting this adjustment will cause a “significant drop” in the amount of additional time this season.
Additionally, the number of substitutes allowed to warm up at once will increase from three to five – so expect busier sidelines during matches.
Prem ball boys and girls will also play a more active role, with the assistants now being allowed to throw balls to the keeper – that had been done away with due to Covid restrictions.
The amount of concussion substitutes will also be increased to help player safety and encroachment for pens will only be punished if it affects the outcome of a spot-kick.
Additionally, refs will be encouraged to be eagle-eyed and make sure balls are placed in the centre of the penalty spot for pens and have been told to give out less pens for ‘ball to hand’ incidents.
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In another major change, semi-automated offsides are being introduced to the Prem to speed up decisions, although that will not come in until September or October.
New look Match of the Day
There will be some major changes to the Match of the Day line-up with Ian Wright emotionally stepping away from his long-running punditry role last year.
Speaking on his reason for leaving the show, Wright told the Stick to Football Podcast: “It’s time. I had a dear friend who said that sometimes you’ve got to know when to step back, change, rest, have a break, and say no, it’s just time.
“The way I am now, because I have to get back to London from Manchester after filming it’s like 3:30am in the morning – it’s a long day.
“It takes me two to three days after that to get ready and there are other things I’m doing which I just haven’t got the energy for sometimes.”
Stepping into his shoes will be THREE pundits: Joe Hart, Theo Walcott and Steph Houghton.
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New time for team news
In years gone by, fans of Premier League clubs have expected team news to come out exactly one hour before kick-off on a matchday.
However, for the coming season, the rules have changed to allow all 20 clubs to release their line-ups 75 minutes before the match begins.
This change means that top-flight clubs kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday can now release their team sheets at 1.45pm.
This adjustment is a bid to align with rules in Uefa competitions.
It is also an attempt to stop leaks in the 15 minutes between the teams being given to the referee and being announced publicly.
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New Wags
A busy season of transfers means a number of stars will be joined by their glamorous partners at their new clubs.
Man Utd’s latest star signing Matthijs De Ligt will be joined by his model wife AneKee Molenaar in Manchester.
The couple began dating as teenagers in Amsterdam in 2018 and she has been by his side for moves to Turin, Munich and now Manchester.
Fellow Man Utd signing Joshua Zirkzee – who made an instant impact in the 1-0 win over Fulham on Friday night – will also be joined by his influencer and model girlfriend Celina Kerr, who has starred in a number of major campaigns.
Away from the Red Devils, Clara Motta Guedes will join Rodrigo Gomes at Wolves.
Clara is one of the world’s top models and is currently signed up to Elite Models.
She has already updated her location to Wolverhampton on Instagram.
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