COVID-19: Premier League fighting to keep fixture list alive as five weekend games postponed

Manchester United, West Ham and Everton are among the clubs who won't play this weekend

The Premier League is fighting to keep its fixture list in place with five of this weekend's matches already postponed. 

Clubs are set to meet on Friday morning to plan a course through the festive fixture list with half of this weekend's matches off the calendar before the weekend has even begun. Manchester United's home game against Brighton was the first to fall early on Thursday afternoon, swiftly followed by: Southampton vs. Brentford, Watford vs. Crystal Palace, West Ham vs. Norwich and Everton vs. Leicester.

The training grounds of Manchester United, Brentford, Watford and Leicester have been closed with the latter and Norwich both having what the Premier League term to be an "insufficient number of players available to fulfil their match" due to both positive cases and injuries.

The Premier League had also postponed Tottenham's trip to Leicester City hours before kickoff; it increasingly seems that they are fighting a losing battle to keep the show on the road amid a tidal wave of COVID-19 cases in football and across the United Kingdom. Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has already called for games to be postponed until Dec. 26 while senior health officials have advised fans not to attend games.

However, for the time being the league is insistent that if a game can be played, it should be. It raises the curious prospect of a team such as Arsenal being able to build a sizeable lead on those around them in the race for the top four. They have already played three more games than Tottenham, who could be one of several clubs with a sizeable backlog of fixtures to make up in the coming weeks and months.

A Premier League statement said: "The league understands fans will be disappointed these matches have had to be postponed and apologises for the inconvenience and disruption caused. All other fixtures due to be played this weekend are currently scheduled to proceed as planned."

There are fears that the sort of brief circuit breaker Frank proposed may not be of any value, that the problem will have grown rather than receded in 10 days time. The UK hit record positive COVID-19 cases today as the highly-transmissible Omicron variant sweeps across the countries. Meanwhile the prospect of leaving broadcasters without any content weighs heavy on many minds.

Some fixtures are going ahead despite coronavirus concerns. Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed that Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell had all tested positive whilst Kai Havertz, who suffered greatly with a bout of the virus in 2020, is feeling unwell and waiting on test results. The Blues did not ask for the match to be postponed.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are facing Newcastle without Fabinho, Curtis Jones and Virgil van Dijk after they registered suspected positive tests.

The Premier League added: "The board assesses applications to postpone matches on a case-by-case basis, based on existing rules and COVID-19 postponement guidance issued to all clubs.

"It will assess a number of factors, including the ability of a club to field a team; the status, severity and potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak at the club; and the ability of the players to safely prepare for and play the match. The board must also consider the wider risks to the opposition and other people the club may come into contact with.

"In light of the recent rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, the Premier League has reintroduced emergency measures. These include protocols such as more frequent testing, wearing face coverings while indoors, observing social distancing and limiting treatment time."

Meanwhile, as of Thursday, 13 EFL matches across the Championship and Leagues One and Two have been called off. The lower tiers of English football have moved to enhanced RED protocols that will include daily testing, following the steps taken by the Premier League earlier this week, with the EFL confirming that where 14 players including a goalkeeper are available fixtures should go ahead.

The scale of the potential threat to the league was revealed in the EFL's statement, which stated that as of last month 25 percent of players in their three divisions did not intend to get vaccinated against COVID-19. It said that 59 percent of players were double vaccinated with the remaining 16 percent intending to receive the vaccine. Many Premier League clubs have faced similar challenges convincing their players to get the jab though in October the clubs revealed that 68 percent of their players had received both doses and 81 percent one. 

"Alongside enhanced protocols which includes mandatory testing ahead of matchdays, the EFL continues to strongly encourage players and staff at Clubs to get fully vaccinated and obtain a booster jab if eligible to do so," said EFL medical adviser Dr. Richard Higgins.

"We know that getting double jabbed and boosted now will reduce the risk of getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19, reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19 amongst team-mates and loved ones, while helping protect against COVID-19 variants including Omicron."