Covid chaos making the PL unfair, says Howe

NEWCASTLE boss Eddie Howe says he fears for the integrity of the Premier League as Covid continues to play havoc with the schedule. As of last night, half of the weekend’s 10 top flight fixtures were already off — and 24 across all four divisions — due to the rapid spread of the virus. ‘I don’t think we want half the games played and half not,’ said Howe. ‘The League loses something if it becomes disjointed in terms of games played. When you start losing players the worry is the competition becomes unfair. ‘A decision needs to be made to ensure integrity is maintained.’ The Premier League are desperately trying to carry on in the face of the Omicron Covid strain and have convened an emergency meeting for club executives on Monday, which will be followed by meetings of all 20 managers and club captains later in the week. Champions Manchester City suffered a scare yesterday when manager Pep Guardiola returned an inconclusive test and underwent a follow-up PCR. City were busy making contingency plans for tomorrow’s trip to Newcastle but Guardiola then received a negative result last night.