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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kaya Kaynak

Arsenal vs Tottenham U23s clash in doubt as Covid outbreak spreads at Spurs

Arsenal under-23s Premier League 2 fixture against Tottenham after Spurs under-23s squad were sent home from training following further positive tests on Monday.

Tottenham had to postpone both their Europa Conference League match with Rennes as well as their Premier League clash with Brighton last week after a number of their players and staff tested positive for the virus.

football.london understands that youth players were involved in this original group of positive tests, but now reports suggest that several more have been impacted by the latest wave.

This calls into question the Premier League 2 fixture that is supposed to take place between the two clubs at Meadow Park - the home of the Gunners' under-23s - on Friday evening.

Arsenal - who saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Ben White, Willian and Runar Alex Runarsson all test positive for COVID in August - have been keen to restrict any potential further outbreaks, with Mikel Arteta admitting last week that tighter restrictions have been put in place at London Colney.

"The reality is that very quickly in the last week or so, things are happening," the Spaniard said.

"We need to be alert to that and we need to start to put some protocols in place because we don’t want to go back to where we were."

The Arsenal under-23s also train at London Colney, with several youngsters such as Charlie Patino, Salah Oulad M'Hand and Tim Akinola having been called up to join first team sessions this season.

As things stand it is currently unclear whether Friday's match will go ahead or not, given the recent fresh wave of cases at Hotspur Way.

It is the final round of Premier League 2 fixtures before the division breaks off until the New Year, which in theory could make rescheduling the match more manageable.

Kevin Betsy's side have enjoyed a good season so far and currently sit third in the table, five points off league leaders West Ham, having scored the most goals in the competition.

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