Premier League schedule decimated by COVID
The Premier League schedule was decimated Thursday as coronavirus outbreaks at clubs forced the postponement of five weekend matches, taking the total amount of games wiped out over the past week to nine.
The league said its intention was “to continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible” although some managers have called for a brief suspension.
Adding to the postponement of the Manchester United-brighton game on Saturday, the league said the following matches were also off: Southampton-brentford, Watford-crystal Palace, West Ham-norwich (all Saturday) and Evertonleicester (Sunday).
Only five league games remain to be played this weekend.
The league said its board was assessing applications to postpone matches on a case-bycase basis.
“The league understands fans will be disappointed these matches have had to be postponed and apologizes for the inconvenience and disruption caused,” the Premier League said. “All other fixtures due to be played this weekend are currently scheduled to proceed as planned.”
Two matches were being played on Thursday night, with Liverpool hosting Newcastle and saying three players — Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones — were missing because of suspected positive tests for the virus.
The growing number of infections among squads reflected the worsening health emergency in Britain as the omicron variant spreads.
The training grounds of Leicester, Brentford and Watford have been closed because of what the league described as ongoing outbreaks. Norwich has insufficient players available to play because of COVID-19, injuries and other illnesses.
Brighton had wanted its match against Wolverhampton on Wednesday to be called off, with manager Graham Potter saying his team had “three or four” absences because of COVID-19 and seven players out in total. Brighton’s request was denied and the team lost 1-0.
“I think the path we’re on, I’m not sure how long we can stay on it for,” Potter said. “We all want football to continue, want life to continue as best as we can but health is the most important thing.