The Premier League on Thursday postponed six more matches due to the wave of coronavirus infections hitting Britain, but said it intended to “continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible” as calls for a circuit break intensified.
Leicester’s scheduled match against Tottenham was postponed just hours before kick-off on Thursday.
United's home clash with Brighton, Brentford’s trip to Southampton, Watford’s meeting with Crystal Palace and West Ham’s fixture against Norwich have all been called off along with Leicester’s visit to Everton.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank led calls for a firebreak of at least a week to allow the infection rate to stabilise.
“To postpone this round and also the Carabao (League) Cup round (next week) would give everyone a week at least, or four or five days to clean and do everything at the training ground so everything is clean and you break the chain.”
“While recognising a number of clubs are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, it is the League’s intention to continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible,” the Premier League said in a statement. “The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority.”
“(The Premier League board) 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 league’s statement added.
Two matches did take place on Thursday in front of full crowds as Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-1 and Chelsea were held 1-1 by Everton despite outbreaks at Liverpool and Chelsea. Chelsea were without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi as well as injured left-back Ben Chilwell due to positive tests.
Liverpool shrugged off the loss Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones but the status of their trip to Tottenham on Sunday will depend on how the outbreak is contained in the coming days.
The EFL, which runs the second, third and fourth tiers, said 25 percent of players were still refusing to get the jab based on their data from November with just 59 percent double vaccinated.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp reiterated his call for players to ignore “lies and misinformation” around the vaccine.
“Ignore those who pretend to know. Ignore lies and misinformation. Listen to people who know best. If you do that, you end up wanting the vaccine and the booster.”
