Premier League: Aston Villa stories ‘important’ COVID-19 outbreak

Image Source : GETTY IMAGES The Premier League membership canceled first-team coaching forward of Friday’s match. Villa can also be scheduled to host Tottenham in a league recreation subsequent Wednesday.
Aston Villa reported a “important” coronavirus outbreak and closed its coaching floor on Thursday, placing in jeopardy its scheduled FA Cup house recreation in opposition to Liverpool.
The Premier League membership canceled first-team coaching forward of Friday’s match. Villa can also be scheduled to host Tottenham in a league recreation subsequent Wednesday.

“The Football Association and Aston Villa are working closely together to try to ensure that the club’s third round proper fixture with Liverpool can go ahead as planned at Villa Park tomorrow evening,” the membership mentioned Thursday night.
“Final confirmation will be made (Friday) pending the results of additional COVID-19 testing,” it added.
The membership mentioned “ a large number ” of gamers and employees returned optimistic checks following routine testing on Monday, they usually “immediately went into isolation.”
“A second round of testing was carried out immediately and produced more positive results today,” Villa mentioned earlier Thursday.
Earlier, Southampton’s third-round FA Cup recreation in opposition to Shrewsbury scheduled for Saturday at St. Mary’s Stadium was referred to as off after the third-division workforce reported a coronavirus outbreak.
The League One membership mentioned “several members” of its squad and employees examined optimistic. It wasn’t instantly clear if already tight schedules will permit the sport to be performed at a later date.
“Shrewsbury Town informed us that there have been a significant number of positive COVID-19 cases at the club, such that they did not have a sufficient amount of fit, non-isolating players who would be able to play in the fixture,” the FA mentioned.
The FA requested for extra data concerning Shrewsbury’s “ability to fulfill the fixture,” and mentioned its Professional Game Board will meet early subsequent week “to make a decision as to what will happen with the fixture.”

Elite sports activities have continued at the same time as Britain faces a extra contagious variant of the coronavirus. A 3rd nationwide lockdown that began Tuesday requires everybody in England to remain at house for a minimum of the following six weeks, with restricted exceptions.
“I fear football might succumb in the next few weeks,” England nice and TV pundit Gary Lineker mentioned Thursday on Twitter.
Also, two Women’s Super League video games scheduled for Saturday had been postponed Thursday.
The Manchester City girls’s match in opposition to West Ham was referred to as off after City reported “4 optimistic COVID-19 instances and plenty of different mitigating components.”
Arsenal’s girls’s workforce mentioned one participant examined optimistic this week, leading to self-isolation for a number of gamers and the postponement of its recreation in opposition to Aston Villa.
City’s males’s workforce has additionally been navigating by means of an outbreak.
United States goalkeeper Zack Steffen once more stepped in for Ederson — out after contracting the coronavirus — to start out in City’s 2-0 win over Manchester United within the League Cup on Wednesday. Earlier within the day, reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson and midfielder Cole Palmer had been added to the optimistic record.
City had six gamers lacking for Sunday’s 3-1 win at Chelsea within the Premier League as a result of that they had contracted COVID-19 — Ederson, defenders Kyle Walker and Eric Garcia, midfielder Tommy Doyle, and forwards Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres.
Three Premier League video games had been postponed final week following an elevated variety of optimistic checks at City and Fulham.
On Saturday, second-division membership Derby expects that supervisor Wayne Rooney and his complete first-team squad will miss the FA Cup match in opposition to non-league Chorley following an outbreak.
Derby will as a substitute ship a bunch of under-23 and under-18 gamers to play within the third-round recreation, Derby chief govt Stephen Pearce mentioned Wednesday. He mentioned 9 gamers and employees inside the first-team bubble had examined optimistic.