Leeds v Liverpool and Wolves v Watford have been removed from the Premier League’s Boxing Day fixture list after Covid caused further disruption to football’s festive schedule.
Outbreaks within the Leeds and Watford squads mean neither side are able to call on the 13 outfield players and goalkeeper necessary. The Premier League acknowledged the decision “will disappoint supporters” and said it “understands their frustrations at a special time of year when fans look forward to attending and watching football games”.
The decision has been taken three days before the scheduled date, a contrast to last week when Watford’s match at Burnley was postponed hours before kick off. It comes after an extraordinary league meeting on Monday resolved to continue with the festive programme but also to offer clubs and supporters greater clarity, and quicker action, over Covid cases.
Leeds asked for the postponement of their game with Liverpool after recording five new cases on top of existing illnesses and injuries. Their Thorp Arch training ground has been closed for two days this week.
“All of the cases we have experienced are asymptomatic which we believe is due to our high vaccine take up,” the club said.
Watford, who sit just above the Premier League relegation zone in 17th place, have now had three consecutive fixtures postponed, but the Premier League said that with players set to come out of isolation, “it is fully expected” that their home match against West Ham next Tuesday will go ahead. No similar message was relayed regarding Leeds’ game at home to Aston Villa on the same day.
Premier League: 26 December Burnley v Everton, Liverpool v Leeds, Wolves v Watford
Championship: 26 December Barnsley v Stoke, Cardiff v Coventry, Fulham v Birmingham, Hull City v Blackburn Rovers, Millwall v Swansea, Peterborough v Reading, Preston v Sheffield United
League One: 26 December Bolton v Morecambe, Crewe v Wigan, Portsmouth v Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday v Burton, Wimbledon v Charlton, Wycombe v Cambridge. 30 December Cambridge v Doncaster
League Two: 26 December Bradford v Harrogate, Bristol Rovers v Sutton, Colchester v Leyton Orient, Exeter v Swindon, Newport v Forest Green, Northampton v Walsall, Port Vale v Salford, Stevenage v Crawley. 29 December Forest Green v Exeter, Walsall v Bradford
National League: 26 December Barnet v Boreham Wood, Halifax v Grimsby, Wealdstone v Maidenhead, Weymouth v Eastleigh, Wrexham v Solihull Moors. 28 December Boreham Wood v Wealdstone, Grimsby v King's Lynn, Yeovil v Weymouth.
Scottish Championship: 26 December Greenock Morton v Queen of the South, Inverness CT v Partick 29 December Raith Rovers v Queen of the South
Scottish League One: 26 December Queen's Park v Dumbarton
The league held talks with Premier League captains and club managers on Thursday, to discuss the decision to play on, as well as Covid protocols and concerns the impact of a condensed fixture list may have on player’s health. This week the Liverpool captain, Jordan Henderson, told the BBC he was concerned over player welfare. “I don’t think anybody does take that seriously enough,” he said, “especially in this [Covid] period.”
The league said: “It is the clubs’ and the league’s collective intention to continue the current fixture schedule where safely possible. The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority and the league will continue to monitor and reflect public health guidance, always proceeding with caution.”
Ralf Rangnick has stated Manchester United have all outfield players available apart from the long-term injured Paul Pogba for Monday’s trip to Newcastle, after the postponement of their past two games.
The interim manager said: “For our last training session [last Thursday] we had eight outfield players and we closed the training ground for four days in order to break the chain. Today [Thursday] was the third day of training this week – we trained Tuesday, yesterday and today and had 25 field players. Paul Pogba, he’s the only one missing out, everyone else is on board. The [improvement] is extremely positive.”
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Rangnick suggested that the League Cup could be abolished to ease the congested schedule. “England is the only country in the top five leagues in Europe that plays two cup competitions,” he said. “In France they abolished the second one a year or two ago.
“This is something we could maybe speak about and discuss. I know the reason for that: the League Cup is kept for the third and fourth division teams to improve the financial situations of those clubs. But I still think if we talk about a tight calendar, maybe having to play too many games, this could be something where we speak and discuss.”
One suggestion for clearing space in the calendar that looks unlikely to go ahead is that of one-leg semi-finals in the Carabao Cup. After progressing to the final four on Wednesday, Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp and Tottenham’s Antonio Conte suggested that home and away ties for the semis should be scrapped. But this proposal is unlikely to be considered by the competition organisers the EFL because it would cost an estimated £20m in revenue losses and broadcast rebates to make the change.
