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We are a little over a week away from the triumphant return of the Premier League following a three-month pandemic-induced hiatus.

With 92 matches set to be played over the next 40 days with countless futures markets available, the next six weeks are going to be a gambler’s paradise.

Among those markets is the top-four race, which remains wide-open heading into the final stretch. Liverpool and Manchester City are virtual locks to finish in the Champions League places, but seven other clubs have a realistic shot of joining them in the top four of the Premier League table.

POS. – position; PTS – points; GD – goal difference; MP – matches played

And here are the odds for the top-four market.

Leicester have enjoyed an excellent first full season under manager Brendan Rodgers and have a stranglehold on a top-four finish, but it will be crucial for them to come out of the break strong.

They need to claim as many points as possible from their first four matches as their schedule gets much trickier from there on out, closing out the campaign with away matches against Arsenal, Bournemouth, and Tottenham, as well as home dates with Sheffield United and Manchester United.

The Foxes have fared quite well against those clubs this season, so barring an unprecedented collapse, a top-four finish should be close to a sure thing for Rodgers’ club.

Chelsea are currently holding down fourth place and it’s hard to look past them for the final spot in the top four, despite little value at -150. The Blues were hampered a bit by their Champions League participation, losing three and drawing one match following midweek European fixtures.

Upon the return of the Premier League season, Frank Lampard’s side can focus solely on the league, and with a relatively friendly fixture list – four of their final nine matches are against bottom-six clubs – the Blues will be a tough side to catch.

That will leave little margin for error for Manchester United, who have three points to make up on the east London club. The Red Devils hit their stride after going 11 matches unbeaten – eight wins, three draws – before the season was suspended.

If the club can pick up where they left off there’s a chance they can make up the ground, with six of their remaining nine matches coming against clubs in the bottom half of the table. Their first game back is a trip to Tottenham, which will be a true test as to whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are to be taken seriously as a top-four threat. I’m not big on the United manager and there are too many holes in the club for me to be interested here at anything shorter than 2-1.

Wolves are interesting though, and generously priced at 7-1. Their Europa League participation hindered the start to their season after going winless through their first six Premier League matches, but they’ve been sharp since. They’re a joy to watch under Nuno Espirito Santo and their remaining fixture list isn’t particularly off-putting. Trips to Sheffield United and Chelsea are their toughest tests, but they otherwise should be favored in all of their remaining matches as it’s entirely conceivable they jump ahead of United and within reach of Chelsea, setting up a massive showdown at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season.

The other club that stands out is Tottenham, who will have Harry Kane back from injury, which should be enough to lure bettors into taking those long odds. I’m not one that will be buying in, though.

It will take Kane time to regain his sharpness in front of goal, having not stepped onto a football pitch in close to six months. Spurs will need to be clinical over the remaining matches to make up the ground they need, and it’s hard to imagine them being able to squeeze nine matches out of Kane in six weeks given his lengthy layoff.

Best bets: Chelsea -150, Wolves +700

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

A worker at the SoFi Stadium construction site in Inglewood, California, died at the scene after falling from the roof Friday, a spokesperson for the contractor confirmed.

Turner-AECOM Joint Venture, the site’s general contractor, said that an iron worker fell from the roof structure and that emergency responders were called immediately.

SoFi Stadium is home to the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers and is set to open for the 2020 NFL season.

“This is an extremely sad day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues at this extremely difficult time,” Turner-AECOM Joint Venture said in a statement. “We work extremely hard to prevent days like this and we have halted all construction activity. Counseling services will be made available to all workers on site to support them in the difficult days and weeks ahead.”

SoFi Stadium, the Rams and the Chargers released a joint statement about the accident.

“We are tremendously saddened by the loss of a construction worker at the stadium site today,” the statement read. “Our sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the individual who passed away.

“The safety of our construction team and all of our employees is the foremost priority of our organizations, and we will continue to work with our partners and local authorities to deliver on this commitment.”

It is uncertain when work on the site will resume.

The stadium, owned by Stan Kroenke, is scheduled to hold its first event on Aug. 14, when the Rams and New Orleans Saints play in a preseason game.

Stadium construction began in November 2016. It was initially estimated to cost $2.6 billion but now has a price estimated at more than $5 billion.

This is the first known incident that has resulted in a death at the construction site.

Welcome to the latest edition of “Sweeper Keeper,” theScore’s footy podcast hosted by Gianluca Nesci.

Numb — that was the first word Atlanta Falcons captain and safety Ricardo Allen used to describe his emotions as he watched the video of a fellow black man, George Floyd, being killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Allen’s heart ached as the officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd said, “I can’t breathe.” In Allen’s eyes, it was an all-too-familiar tale.

“I don’t see it as happening to just one person. I keep seeing it as a replay of what has happened hundreds of times,” Allen said. “… But over and over, when you keep seeing this kind of thing happen to black men, it makes you pretty mad.”

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Floyd’s killing was the tipping point in a series of killings of African Americans that have made the names Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor more meaningful and the cause taken up by Colin Kaepernick for social justice more powerful. Allen, one of the original organizers of the Falcons’ social justice committee in 2017, said he strives to educate himself with the goal of helping mend a fractured nation.

He gained an even better understanding of the fight against racial injustice — and the value of peaceful protests — during a 2018 trip to Selma, Alabama, on the anniversary of the historic tragedy.

Remembering ‘Bloody Sunday’

Allen joined fellow Falcon

On March 7, 1965, a group of around 600 protesters, led by civil rights activist and current U.S. Rep. John Lewis, attempted to walk from Selma to Alabama’s capital, Montgomery, in a peaceful demonstration for black voting rights. The group was confronted at the bridge by state troopers, who charged with billy clubs, tear gas and whips. Lewis suffered a skull fracture, 17 others were reportedly hospitalized and more than 50 suffered lesser injuries. Television cameras captured the violence, which caused a national outcry.

The events of “Bloody Sunday” inspired two subsequent marches from Selma to Montgomery, led by civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Only the third march was completed without interference. The events were instrumental in the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, prohibiting state and local governments to deny citizens equal rights to vote based on race.

“To get down there and see how they had to fight to cross the bridge for our right to vote, for me to actually get to walk and be around history, that’s just a blessing to soak up,” Allen said. “That’s something I want to be able to pass down to the next generation; to spread light to folks to know [the right to vote] wasn’t always like this. People fought for this and are continuing to fight for us to have equal rights.”

Former Falcons assistant general manager Scott Pioli invited and encouraged the players to attend the Selma event, which was sponsored by RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports Equality) to help raise awareness about civil rights and racism.

“When you learn the history and you’re exposed to the history, it allows you to be much more educated in order to fight for what’s right,” Pioli said.

Pioli, who also walked in Selma, said he has close relationships with all the players involved. He viewed Allen as the ideal representative based on his leadership skills.

“First of all, Ricardo is brilliant,” Pioli said. “And when I say brilliant, I mean that he’s both smart and thoughtful. He’s strong and he’s empathetic. He’s truthful and willing to be vulnerable. In the conversations that we’ve had, he’s expressed truths to me about his personal history with racism.”

The most memorable part of Selma for Allen was the time spent with Lewis, who is now 80 and living with pancreatic cancer yet still on the front line in the fight toward equality. Lewis says he was arrested at least 40 times during the civil rights movement, including in 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi, for using a whites-only restroom.

“I mean, he got his skull busted, which makes me feel the same way I feel whenever I hear about any brother getting hit across the head, or any human being treated wrong for trying to do right,” Allen said. “You’re getting attacked and beat down because of [thoughts] other people have made in their own mind about what your value might be in the world.

“With John Lewis, I just see a true dedication to the cause. Even right now, he’s not moving as good as he used to because he’s an older man, but he’s still out there every year marching and letting the world know that this is still important to him.”

The lessons learned in Selma, Allen said, can still be applied to the fight for change, starting with exercising the right to vote and educating oneself.

“I’m always for education because when you just get out and jump in and start talking about everything too fast, one of the things that’s going to happen is you’re going to get discredited,” Allen, 28, said. “You’ve got to try and educate yourself as much as you can. I don’t think I know everything, but I know that I’m trying my best to help the cause.”

Striving for progress today

When asked if he has been racially profiled, Allen, who grew up in a low-income area of Daytona Beach, Florida, snickered.

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve been racially profiled plenty of times,” he said. “I was stopped at Purdue University one time when I first got there. … I got my bookbag searched one time walking on campus and didn’t have anything in it.

“It’s sad because as a young black man, you’re kind of trained to go along with it because you don’t want no problems.”

Being “sized up” because of his race is something Allen said he can no longer accept. He hasn’t figured out the specific solution, but vowed even after Selma to make a long-lasting impact so black men of the future don’t endure an unfair standard.

“I don’t just want to make an impact one time, or once or twice,” Allen said. “I want to start working toward something where I can make an impact in the black community — social justice and equality — forever.”

It starts with open and honest dialogue, particularly with teammates. Racial injustice was at the forefront of the conversation when the Falcons held their virtual team meeting this past week. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was the special guest speaker and encouraged the players and coaches to be leaders, to be active.

Allen appreciated breaking into small-group discussions following the mayor’s pep talk. He admired how passionate his new defensive backs coach, Joe Whitt Jr., was in discussing racial issues. His teammate

Allen, who encourages his white teammates to speak out for equality and unity, also applauded quarterback Matt Ryan for posting a statement after Floyd was killed: