Manchester United were down to just seven first-team players available for Saturday’s match against Brighton, leaving the Premier League with no alternative but to postpone.
Saturday’s clash is one of nine Premier League matches to be cancelled this week as a result of rising cases of Covid-19, with the Omicron variant wreaking havoc at several clubs.
United’s trip to Brentford was also postponed on Tuesday after the club reported a “number of cases” among players and staff.
i has been told that United then had just seven first-teamers fit and available for selection against Brighton, either due to injury, being in recovery or in isolation after a positive Covid test. The source went on to say that only nine had been available for the Brentford fixture.
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i understands the training ground may remain closed until Monday or Tuesday next week. The women’s team can prepare for their game against Aston Villa on Sunday due to being in a different bubble with different facilities and protocols.
Leicester City’s clash with Tottenham was the second game in as many days to be called off a matter of hours before kick-off on Thursday, angering many fans who had already started to make their journey to the stadium.
Chelsea’s match against Everton looked like it would be next to be cancelled after reports of further Covid cases at Chelsea, but the match went ahead.
However, four more of the weekend’s games were postponed on Thursday night: Southampton vs Brentford, Watford vs Crystal Palace, West Ham vs Norwich and Everton vs Leicester.
Postponed Premier League games
The full list of games postponed due to Covid so far, in order of when they were called off:
- Brighton vs Tottenham
- Brentford vs Man Utd
- Burnley vs Watford
- Leicester vs Tottenham
- Man Utd vs Brighton
- Southampton vs Brentford
- Watford vs Crystal Palace
- West Ham vs Norwich
- Everton vs Leicester
Despite such chaos in the Premier League, the authorities have said they will resist a “circuit break” mass cancellation of fixtures this weekend.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank called for all this weekend’s league matches, as well as next week’s Carabao Cup games, to be postponed in order to “break the chain” on the rising number of cases among clubs – a call that has fallen on deaf ears.
“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,” a statement announcing United’s cancellation read. “The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority.”
While Tottenham have been struggling with Covid for some time, it was thought that United could have coped with their rising positive tests as the cases found at Carrington on Sunday were among non-first team players and staff, with the majority of the squad kept clear of the outbreak, given they had travelled to Norwich for last Saturday’s 1-0 win.
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Such action proved to be futile, with United now with 10 days to try and get a handle on the situation before their trip to Newcastle United on 27 December.
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