Chelsea put ‘at risk’ by playing
THOMAS Tuchel criticised the Premier League for putting his coronavirus-hit Chelsea side at “huge risk” by forcing it to play at Wolves on Sunday, as leader Manchester City put Newcastle to the sword.
Chelsea drew 0-0 at Molineux, while City had a 4-0 away win before Tottenham held 10man Liverpool to a 2-2 draw, denting the Reds’ title hopes.
But the action on the pitch was overshadowed by Britain’s worsening Covid-19 crisis, with just four games played out of 10 originally scheduled.
Premier League clubs will meet on Monday to discuss what action to take over the chaos, with questions over the integrity of the competition.
The Athletic reported clubs would discuss whether to postpone an round of fixtures on December 28, 29 and 30 in an attempt to ease the pressure.
Chelsea, which had its request for a postponement rejected, could only field 14 outfield players in its matchday squad on Sunday, with N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Trevoh Chalobah all featuring despite struggling for match fitness.
“We were put in a huge risk of health and safety to the players, not just because of Covid but also physically,” said an angry Tuchel.
His stuttering team is now six points behind leader City, and he said he did not know what would happen with Chelsea’s fixtures against Brentford in the League Cup and Aston Villa in the coming week.
Meanwhile, defending champion City crushed relegation-threatened Newcastle.
Eddie Howe’s players shot themselves in the foot in just the fifth minute, when Ciaran Clark inexplicably chose not to make a simple headed clearance and Ruben Dias nodded the loose ball into the net.
Newcastle briefly rallied but City silenced St James’ Park shortly before the half-hour, when Joao Cancelo smashed a right-footed shot past Martin Dubravka from the edge of the area. City maintained its firm grip in the second half, with Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling on the scoresheet to ensure an eighth consecutive league win.
It was City’s 34th league victory of 2021, establishing a record for the most top-flight wins by a team in a calendar year. It finished the weekend three points clear of secondplaced Liverpool.
Liverpool’s preparations for its visit to Spurs were hit after midfielder Thiago Alcantara became the latest of Jurgen Klopp’s players to return a suspected positive test for Covid.
Harry Kane gave Spurs an early lead. Diogo Jota equalised in the 35th minute against the wasteful hosts and Robertson stooped to head Liverpool into the lead midway through the second half.
Tottenham was level five minutes later when Son Heung-Min made the most of a failed effort by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker to clear, steering the ball into an empty net. Moments later Robertson was sent off but Liverpool held on to earn a point.