Manchester United will not receive a bye into the final of the Carabao Cup if Manchester City are unable to play their semi-final fixtures next week.
The two Manchester sides are due to go head-to-head at Old Trafford next Wednesday night, but a coronavirus outbreak at City has thrown the game into doubt.
Man City's fixture schedule was plunged into chaos after a Covid-19 outbreak saw their game against Everton this evening postponed.
Last week City confirmed that Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus had tested positive for the virus, leading to the duo missing Boxing Day's victory over Newcastle United.
Yet further testing has confirmed that the club have been hit with more cases, meaning the Premier League accepted City's request to postpone the Everton clash.
City have subsequently confirmed that their training ground will be shut for a period of time in an effort to stop a further spread of the outbreak.
A statement said: "All positive cases involving players and staff will observe a period of self-isolation in accordance with Premier League and UK Government protocol on quarantine.
"The first team training ground at City Football Academy will close for an indeterminate period, with the squad and associated bubble undergoing testing before any decision is made for training to resume."
It means there are plenty of questions over City's upcoming fixture schedule, with Pep Guardiola's side currently set to face Chelsea on Sunday and then United in the Carabao Cup last four on Wednesday.
Both of these games fall within the 10-day self-isolation period for anyone who received a positive test, meaning it is unclear whether the matches will take place.
In earlier rounds of the EFL Cup, teams who were unable to fulfil a fixture were forced to withdraw from the competition, a rule that saw Tottenham Hotspur handed a bye after an outbreak at Leyton Orient.
Yet this is not set to happen for next week's semi-final, even if it cannot take place as scheduled.
EFL Cup laws state that the rule forcing clubs to withdraw from the competition if they cannot fulfil a fixture were only in place up to and including the fourth round.
That means the semi-final will likely be rearranged, rather than United being handed a bye.
