With Covid-19 cases rising throughout the United Kingdom, games across the nation are being called off at an alarming rate.
While the Premier League has announced it intends to stick to its current fixture schedule “where safely possible,” the amount of games that have already been postponed due to positive tests is proving to be a major problem for England’s top flight.
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Here are the Premier League that have been called off so far and that need rearranging.
Original date: 28 November
To start with, we have a fixture which was actually due to take place before cases of Covid-19 began to rise exponentially.
Heavy snowfall at Turf Moor made Burnley’s clash with Tottenham impossible to play. Two unlucky Spurs fans had travelled 31 hours from Dallas to Lancashire – quite a tough one to take.
Original date: 12 December
Spurs had a major outbreak earlier in December, making it impossible for the north London club to host Rennes in the Europa Conference League – that fixture still needs a date too.
Antonio Conte was visibly shaken in his press conference that week and the club’s training ground ultimately had to be closed.
Original date: 14 December
Confirmation of this postponement came at 23:50 (GMT) the night before the clash between Brentford and Manchester United was due to take place.
United confirmed an outbreak needed “ongoing surveillance” and a decision to close their Carrington training ground was taken.
Original date: 15 December
A bit of a trend started to emerge with the postponement of Burnley vs Watford, with the game being called off at a late stage in the day when fans had already made plans to attend.
Watford had an outbreak in their squad and were unable to fulfil the fixture.
Original date: 16 December
This one definitely should have been dealt with sooner by the Premier League. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed the club had asked for their match with Tottenham to be postponed due to positive cases in his squad, only to see that appeal waved away by the league.
It was left until early afternoon for the news to filter through. Spurs were keen to play and may have been able to rearrange their European tie with Rennes for that week had action been taken sooner.
Original date: 18 December
Sensible action was taken here, with the game between Man Utd and Brighton called off two days in advance.
United suspended all football related activities at Carrington after being left with just seven healthy players and said “the health of players and staff is our priority”. It left Brighton with another game to rearrange later in the season.
Original date: 18 December
The Premier League postponed four games in one fell swoop ahead of this particular weekend, giving fans adequate notice when that hasn’t always been the case.
A statement reads: “Brentford FC have an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. This has resulted in their training ground being closed which means they are unable to prepare for Saturday’s game.”
Original date: 18 December
West Ham have enjoyed an excellent season so far but their fixture with relegation scrappers Norwich will need a new date.
“Norwich City FC have an insufficient number of players available to fulfil their match due to COVID-19, injuries and other illnesses,” the Canaries confirmed.
Original date: 18 December
Another of the games to be postponed ahead of time.
A statement from the Premier League read: “Watford FC also continue to have an ongoing outbreak, resulting in their training ground being closed, and have an insufficient number of players available to fulfil their match.”
Original date: 18 December
This was one of two games that was supposed to go ahead on Saturday 18 December, but instead was scrapped due to an outbreak in the Villa camp.
Their statement read: “The Club is extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to Burnley Football Club, both our own supporters and the Burnley fans due to attend the fixture but have acted as swiftly as possible this morning to minimise disruption.”
Original date: 19 December
There was decisive action here as the game was called off on Thursday, the same day Everton travelled to Chelsea to earn a 1-1 draw.
A statement from the Premier League read: “Leicester City FC have a COVID-19 outbreak within the squad which has left the club with an insufficient number of players available to fulfil the game. The club’s first team training ground was closed this morning to help contain the outbreak.”
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