Everton’s fixture at Burnley is the latest Premier League match to be postponed as a result of Covid cases within the squad, as well as injuries to Rafa Benitez’s team.
While the Premier League continue to insist they will keep games on wherever possible, several matches across the Christmas period have now needed to be rescheduled.
Leeds vs Liverpool and Wolves vs Watford were both postponed on Thursday, with the meeting between Clarets and Toffees now a third encounter off out of the nine planned matches on 26 December.
Everton had reportedly initially seen their approach to have this match postpone rejected, but a league statement noted that further absences through positive Covid tests meant the visitors would not be able to field a big enough squad to fulfill the fixture.
That statement added:
“The Premier League Board has this morning regrettably approved Everton FC’s request to postpone their Boxing Day away fixture at Burnley FC.
“The Board this morning was able to make its decision in advance of Boxing Day to give clarity to clubs and their fans. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption caused to those supporters’ festive plans.
“The League is aware that the decisions this week to postpone three matches on Boxing Day will disappoint supporters, and understands their frustrations at a special time of year when fans look forward to attending and watching football games. The League aims to provide as much clarity as possible, but unfortunately postponements sometimes have to be made at short notice, as safety is our priority. Where possible, the League will endeavour to keep supporters updated if games become at risk on a matchday.”
This fixture being postponed now means that Everton have had two in a row called off, after Leicester were granted a postponement for the meeting on 19 December, while for Burnley it’s three in succession following delays to their games against Watford and Aston Villa.
The Clarets’ last match was on 12 December, a 0-0 draw with West Ham, while they also had their game against Tottenham postponed two weeks earlier. Their next scheduled fixture is 30 December, against Manchester United.
