Aston Villa have seemingly aimed a sly dig at Liverpool after the Reds asked for their Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal to be postponed due to a further Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
Liverpool confirmed that their first-team training facilities at AXA Training Centre have been temporarily closed on Wednesday due to a rapidly growing number of suspected positive Covid cases.
The Reds formally submitted an application to have the Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal postponed on Tuesday evening.
The EFL responded to Liverpool's postponement request on Tuesday night, saying in a statement that they were considering the proposal.
“The League has this evening received a request from Liverpool FC to postpone Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg versus Arsenal FC which will now be considered in accordance with the competition rules as set out at the start of the season alongside information submitted by the Club.
"We will look to confirm the League’s position as soon as possible once the circumstances have been fully reviewed.”
The request has since been granted, with Arsenal now playing the second leg at home on Thursday, January 20.
But the application hasn't gone down well on social media, however, as many fans called for them to play a weakened side - potentially with players from the academy - instead of asking for the game to be postponed.
Aston Villa were forced to do so in their 4-1 FA Cup Third Round loss against Liverpool last season, and have since sent a dig to the Reds on Twitter.
Posting an image of their 16 academy debutants, Villa's caption read: "Last time out in the Third Round... 16 debuts."
Although the message is a little cryptic, the timing suggests that it was aimed at Liverpool.
Competition rules for the FA Cup are slightly different to the Carabao Cup rules.
The EFL's position is that a game must be played if 14 registered players - for example, players from the 25-man Premier League squad list - are available, whereas the same rules don't apply in the FA Cup and unregistered players can make an appearance.
Villa will now prepare to face Manchester United in this season's Third Round of the FA Cup, and this time, they will be able to field a far stronger side.
