Image source, Getty Images

Jack Robinson is making his second ever Premier League start after starting for Liverpool against Birmingham in April 2011 (3343 days ago) - the second longest gap between a player's first two PL starts and the longest for an outfield player.

The two teams emerge separately with Sheffield United players walking out to what sounded like a slow drum beat.

Aston Villa's players do, at least, get walk out music to come out to.

Almost time for the first game of the Premier League's return to action to get under way!

Lee Hendrie
Former Aston Villa midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

It's a must-win game, I certainly think so. Some of the players do get overawed playing at home so hopefully this will go in their favour. Tonight if they can go and get three points Villa can move away from trouble.

It's a big ask. Sheffield United are a super side.

Normally around this time I'd write 'atmosphere building' but it's obviously not as the players walk out onto the pitch to near silence.

This is going to take a little while to get used to.

Lee Hendrie
Former Aston Villa midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

Having John McGinn back is massive, his injury over the new year was a big blow for the club. He and Jack Grealish are the two key players in the squad. The fans were downbeat when he was out so having him back gives everyone a big lift.

Keinan Davis is a brave pick but I'm so pleased - he can run the channels.

Ian Dennis
BBC Radio 5 Live senior football reporter

We had 8mm of rain in an hour but the newly relaid pitch looks splendid now.

Image source, Getty Images

A couple of Aston Villa fans are sat in a small gazebo set up over a park bench across the way from Villa Park.

They may not be able to see the action live but, after 100 days away, it will do for them.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith speaking to Sky Sports: "We've had a mini-pre season like everyone else. I wanted to award the players who looked the brightest and fittest.

"There are lots of things we need to work on. When the season was paused, confidence-wise, we weren't in a good place. All the players wearing that shirt deserve their place today."

An orange steward's jacket has been hung in the Holt End in memory of Aston Villa manager Dean Smith's father, who passed away at the age of 79 in May after contracting coronavirus.

He was a former steward at the club and a life-long Villa fan.

"It's a fantastic gesture from the football club and one you expect from this club," Smith told Sky Sports.

"I'm not the only manager, Pep Guardiola lost his mother too. We have had to return to football today. My heart goes out to anyone else who has lost someone in this period."

An emotional evening for Villa boss Dean Smith, whose dad - a steward at Villa Park - passed away last month.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Villa Park

Image source, PA Media

The surreal atmosphere of silence has not quite kicked in yet as the warm-ups are being conducted to a musical soundtrack.

The real intrigue of how this lack of crowd and atmosphere will have its impact will come when the game kicks off.

Despite the circumstances, there is still a sense of anticipation for those of us fortunate to be inside Villa Park.

Nathan Bright: I wanted to mark the return of the Premier League by playing some FIFA. The most recent edition I’ve got is FIFA 15 on the Xbox 360. Had to play it on mute to prepare myself for what is to come.

Charles Meyrick: I'm like a dog waiting for its owner to arrive back home in front of the TV right now. Football football football!.... of course I'm an Arsenal fan and I'm not sure I'll be feeling quite as excited after we are done trying to thwart City.

After three months of debate and recrimination over how relegation should be decided in the event of an incomplete season, we are hopefully going to see it resolved in the fairest arena - on the pitch.

Over the 24 seasons in which the Premier League has contained 20 teams, 37 points is the average benchmark for survival.

There are eight sides in the division who are yet to reach the tally.

Two of those - Newcastle and Southampton - are just a single win away, but Norwich are potentially looking at at least five victories from their remaining nine games to give themselves a fighting chance of staying up - the same number they managed from their first 29 games.

Of the six sides most in peril, 19th-placed Aston Villa have the toughest remaining games according to Opta,...

Image source, BBC Sport

The new normal for journalists with members of the press having to sit in the stands to be able to adhere to social distancing regulations.

Hope these lot have got plenty of juice in their laptops. Not a plug point in sight...

Image source, Getty Images

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Villa Park

Image source, Getty Images

The stadium is, as ordered, largely empty but there is still an attempt to provide pre-match atmosphere and what better way to break the silence than with a very, very loud blast of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” over the PA.

Both teams going through vigorous warm-ups - not long now.

Before football was suspended on 13 March, Sheffield United were among the form sides in the division, gradually turning up the heat on some of the teams above them.

With the title race all but over, the battle for Champions League qualification - and the relative toughness of the fixtures facing those challenging for it - takes on even greater interest.

Opta have provided BBC Sport with an analysis of each side's remaining matches and their difficulty, based on the probable outcome of each.

This is based on a model that analyses a side's attacking and defensive qualities over four years of historic results, taking into account the strength of the opponent and with greater weighting given to recent results.

Each side's fixture is ranked on a scale from one ("very easy") to five ("very hard"). Below is the average difficulty of the remaining fixtures for the Premier League's current top 10...

Image source, BBC Sport

RegularJon: and so the fantasy football nightmares begin again already one of my picks is not in the starting XIs of the first game. It’s a real love/hate relationship this game

That didn't take long!

The Aston Villa players have just gone out onto the pitch to warm up and I can confirm it was very surreal to not hear the warm applause from the stands as they emerged from the tunnel.

The Villa players are all wearing 'Black Lives Matter' training tops. too.

All Premier League players' names will be replaced on the back of their shirts with 'Black Lives Matter' for the first 12 matches of the restarted season.