Leicester‘s match against Tottenham on Thursday night will go ahead as scheduled after both clubs had requests for a postponement rejected by the Premier League.
The two clubs have been hit by a spate of Covid-19 cases over the past 10 days, with Spurs’ games against Rennes and Brighton postponed after eight first-team players and five members of staff tested positive for the virus.
Tottenham’s desire to move the game stemmed from wanting to fulfil their final Uefa Europa Conference League fixture against Rennes instead following last week’s cancellation. Spurs are even willing to play in France, despite it being scheduled to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs were provisionally included in Monday’s draw and could face Rapid Vienna in the play-off round – or group runners-up Vitesse Arnhem could replace them.
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Tottenham's match against Brighton postponed over 'significant' number of positive Covid cases09 December, 2021“For sure, the Premier League didn’t want to postpone the game against Leicester,” Conte said on Wednesday.
“Maybe because we have to play against Burnley and then Brighton because we’ve had two games postponed before. We can understand in one hand, in the other hand, I think we deserve to play our chance against Rennes.
“We didn’t find a good solution between Uefa and the Premier League. Why does Tottenham have to pay for this? It is not fair that we have to pay for a situation that is not our fault.”
Conte revealed that some players who tested positive had since returned to training, while others were still isolating in line with government guidelines. The Italian added that he had a squad of 16 players to pick from for the game against Leicester, with Giovani Lo Celso returning from injury.
In contrast, Leicester wanted the game to be rescheduled due to Covid issues in Brendan Rodgers’ squad.
“We’ve still got a number of players out,” Rodgers said on Wednesday. “We’ve got nine players out through Covid and other medical issues. In terms of Covid, we’re still where we were.”
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Tottenham’s game against Brighton was the first Premier League match to be postponed due to Covid-related issues this season, followed by Brentford vs Manchester United earlier this week and Burnley vs Watford on Wednesday evening.
And Rodgers seemed aggrieved that Leicester’s request for the game to be moved had been knocked back.
“Unfortunately for us, we weren’t granted any dispensation, which was disappointing. We’ve wanted to support the measures, but when we wanted support for the extreme situation we were in, it’s disappointing not to get the support.”
Leicester are set to be without any of their first-choice central defenders for the game, with Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu injured, Jannik Vestergaard and Filip Benkovic suffering from illness and Daniel Amartey not fit enough to start.
Burnley vs Watford postponed
Burnley confirmed that due to an “ongoing Covid outbreak” in the Watford squad, their match at Turf Moor scheduled to take place on Wednesday evening has been postponed.
The announcement came at 5pm, just two-and-a-half hours before kick-off.
A Premier League statement read: “It is with regret the Premier League Board has postponed Burnley FC’s home fixture against Watford FC, due to be played this evening at 7.30pm.
“The decision was taken following guidance from medical advisers due to an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak within Watford’s squad. As a result, the club has an insufficient number of first-team players available to fulfil the match.
“The Premier League understands this decision will disappoint and frustrate fans who were due to attend this evening’s game and apologises for the inconvenience and disruption caused at such short notice.
“In considering any application to postpone, the Board considers a range of sporting and medical factors. Each decision is taken on a case-by-case basis with everyone’s health of utmost importance
“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.”
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