In late May 2020 the UK Government began to ease the lockdown measures which had been taken to combat the COVID-19 contagion and it was duly announced on 28 May that the Premier League clubs had agreed to play the remaining 92 Premier League fixtures and FA Cup fixtures in empty stadiums and with modified rules to minimize contagion from 17 June 2020. City restarted the season with a postponed game in hand against Arsenal on 17 June, winning 3–0. On 25 June City lost 2–1 away to Chelsea and as a result, Liverpool were confirmed as 2019–20 Premier League champions with 7 rounds of games to be played. A week later, on 2 July, City were able to assuage some of the disappointment of losing their Premier League title to their rivals when they beat Liverpool 4–0 in the league at home.