Manchester United are still waiting for the Premier League to notify them if their Premier League fixture with Brentford will go ahead on Tuesday night.
A number of United players and staff have tested positive for Covid-19 and first-team operations at the club's Carrington training complex have been shut for 24 hours.
United notified the Premier League of the positive cases on Sunday and discussed whether it would be safe to proceed with the game at the Community Stadium on Tuesday.
However, the Premier League has still not confirmed whether the game will be postponed or not, with kick-off in less than 24 hours.
The Manchester Evening News understands United have pushed for the game to be postponed and, as of several hours ago, the players expected the game to be off.
United did not have a full training session at Carrington on Sunday or Monday and would have no time to train on Tuesday morning before they have to travel to London. United are scheduled to leave Manchester Airport on Tuesday morning.
Expected attendants at the Community Stadium have been informed by Brentford of logistical planning, such as car parking, and accreditation statuses for journalists have not changed.
A number of United Under-23 players are also believed to have tested positive for Covid-19, with some in contention to be included in the squad at Brentford. The academy and women's teams are able to continue training at Carrington because of the segregation of bubbles.
In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, United said: "Manchester United can confirm that following PCR test confirmation of yesterday’s positive LFT (lateral flow tests) Covid-19 cases among the first-team staff and players, the decision has been taken to close down first-team operations at the Carrington Training Complex for 24 hours, to minimise risk of any further infection. Individuals who tested positive are isolating per Premier League protocols.
"Given cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, The club is in discussion with the Premier League whether it is safe for Tuesday’s fixture against Brentford to continue, both from a covid infection and player preparation perspective.
"Team and staff travel to London will be deferred pending the result of that discussion."
The only communiqué the Premier League issued was regarding the number of positive cases among players and staff at its 20 clubs. Between Monday December 6 and Sunday December 12, 3,805 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19 and 42 new positive cases were recorded.
The Premier League confirmed it has initiated its emergency measures and will increase the frequency of both Lateral Flow and PCR Covid-19 testing of players and staff.
