Premier League Covid outbreak: Liverpool & Wolverhampton Wanderers matches postponed

The latest round of Premier League fixtures saw six of the ten matches postponed at the weekend due to Covid outbreaks.

This meant that Leeds United vs Arsenal was the only remaining game on Saturday, while Tottenham Hotspur returned to action after missing matches against Leicester, Brighton and Rennes.

In new measures aimed at quelling the spread of the new Omicron variant, it was announced last week that all top flight players and club staff will need to take a daily lateral flow test before they are allowed to enter their training ground.

Likewise, in addition to those daily tests, players and staff will be required to take a PCR test at least twice a week. The same requirement was in place last season.

Earlier in the week the Premier League revealed there have been 90 new Covid-19 cases from its latest round of testing.

With a number of clubs already enduring Covid outbreaks, which matches could be in danger of being postponed over the course of the next few days?

We’ve gathered all of the details below...

Which Premier League matches have already been cancelled?

Just like EFL, a majority of the Premier League matches over the weekend were postponed.

Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Brighton earlier this month was the first fixture affected and there has now been 12 postponed in total.

It was reported this afternoon that Liverpool’s match against Leeds United, as well as Wolves tie with Watford, are the first Boxing Day fixtures to be called off.

Both were scheduled to kick off at 12:3pm on Sunday but have been called off after requests from Leeds and Watford.

Here is a list of the fixtures that have been called off so far:

Brighton v Tottenham

Brentford v Man Utd

Burnley v Watford

Leicester v Tottenham

Man Utd v Brighton

Southampton v Brentford

Watford v Crystal Palace

West Ham v Norwich

Everton v Leicester

Aston Villa v Burnley

Liverpool v Leeds United

Wolves v Watford

Which Premier League games are under threat?

As of Thursday, there are only two Premier League fixtures postponed on Boxing Day.

Earlier this week it was confirmed that those self-isolating can be released after seven days if they have a negative test.

This means a host of players will return in time for the Boxing Day matches - if not the midweek games that follow.

Of the clubs that were badly affected by Covid outbreaks recently, the likes of Brentford, Chelsea and Norwich City could still be without a number of players - however they will be much better off than last weekend.

What are Premier League managers saying about the outbreak?

Understandably, there had been mounting concern among top flight bosses as numerous Covid outbreaks hit the Premier League over the last couple of weeks.

While it has been confirmed that the festive schedule will go ahead, a number of managers had made their opinions clear on how to deal with the ongoing problem.

Jurgen Klopp - who was unable to attend his mother’s funeral earlier this year due to Covid restrictions - shared his thoughts last week.

The Liverpool boss said: “I know the anti-vaxxers will say Klopp said get the vaccine but now his players have the virus.

“But it makes it more unlikely you'll get it and even if you do get it, it means you can get through it in the right way.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel has opposing views on the vaccine.

Ahead of the Blues Carabao Cup match against Brentford on Wednesday night, Tuchel said: “You know that it’s causing an issue.

“But it’s not that we have all unvaccinated infected. We have vaccinated players who are positive.

“I don’t want to get involved in pointing fingers and starting the hunt for non‑vaccinated people. This is a choice to make.”

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