The new Premier League season is almost upon us, with Arsenal beginning their title defence on Friday night when they host newly promoted Coventry City at the Emirates on Friday night.
The Gunners are widely expected to retain their crown, particularly with several of their traditional rivals under new management.
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Last season’s runners-up Manchester City, for example, have replaced Pep Guardiola with former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and have plenty of work to do after Sunday’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal.
Maresca was always expected to succeed his former boss at the Etihad, but few expected Xabi Alonso to end up at Chelsea.
The former Liverpool midfielder had been considered the leading candidate to replace Arne Slot at Anfield before the Reds appointed fellow Basque coach Andoni Iraola.
Meanwhile, according to The Guardian, the Premier League will allow live broadcasts of conversations between referees and players for the first time this season.
Sky Sports and TNT Sports will be able to use audio captured by the RefCam system, expanding on the technology introduced last season.
The head-mounted cameras provide near-instant replays of incidents from a new angle, with referee audio previously withheld from broadcasts until several days after matches.
The regulations will be relaxed this season to allow limited use of RefCam audio during live matches, with one or two incidents set to be broadcast from each of the Premier League’s 38 rounds.
The audio will not be broadcast live and will exclude incidents reviewed by VAR, as this is not permitted under the laws of the game set by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
Instead, the audio will be used as part of near-live instant replays, while the number of Premier League matches featuring RefCam will increase from 20 to around 45.
Football has been slower than other sports to embrace broadcasting innovations, with in-match interviews and dressing-room cameras already common in cricket, rugby and several American sports. However, increasing pressure from broadcasters is now prompting football to open up.
The Premier League and refereeing body Pro Ref, formerly PGMOL, are both understood to be lobbying IFAB to relax the rules preventing live referee audio from being broadcast. Liverpool will begin their 2026/27 Premier League campaign away to Newcastle United on Sunday.