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Kyle Newbould

Premier League headlines as Granit Xhaka yellow 'being investigated' and academy league age reduced

Here are your latest Premier League headlines for Saturday, June 18.

Xhaka yellow being investigated

The National Crime Agency have revealed they are ‘investigating’ suspicious betting activity surrounding Granit Xhaka’s yellow card against Leeds United in December, according to the Daily Mail.

The Arsenal midfielder was booked by Andre Marriner for time wasting in the 86th minute after standing over a free-kick for nearly 20 seconds - the Gunners were 4-1 up at the time.

A bet of £52,000 was placed on him to receive a yellow card in the last 10 minutes, which members of the industry say is highly out of general wager patterns.

The Mail say there has never been any suggestion of any wrongdoing by Xhaka or any other Arsenal player.

READ MORE: Newcastle United turn down chance to sign £17million Juventus centre-back

Premier League 2 to decrease age

The Premier League have announced that they will decrease the age limit of their academy competition, the Premier League 2, to under-21 level.

It was previously an under-23 competition, but has been lowered to reflect the personnel in the league - the average age of which is 19.

Teams can now use five overage players and one senior goalkeeper - compared to three in previous years.

The rule change means the likes of Joe Willock would now be classed as a senior player if he were to feature.

Ex-PL ref calls on semi-auto VAR

Former Premier League and FIFA referee Keith Hackett has claimed that the league will start to incorporate semi-automated offside technology after it is trialled at the Qatar World Cup this winter.

The technology uses multiple cameras to track the positions of players and ball, creating 3D models instantly to judge whether a player is offside - although the models will be used to formulate a decision which is reviewed by a human official.

“We need to get to a position with offsides like we are with goalline technology. An acceptance that this is how technology should help, take the human being out of it. I think we’re moving in the right direction.” Hackett told Football Insider.

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