The famous phrase of Alex Fergusson “The title is not won on boxing day”, the legendary coach of Manchester United, “but it can be lost”. The day after Christmas, a public holiday in England is the climax of the Premier League. A period when matches are played while most other European leagues are in recess. But this year, the accumulation of positive cases of Covid-19 has already led to the cancellation of two matches of the “boxing day”, while the levels of contamination beat record after record.
Many matches will have to be replaced during the second half of the championship, adding to an already crowded schedule.
“We will not have enough recognized first-team players to meet the Premier League requirements for the game. With five Covid-19 positive players, and several others already injured, the Leeds club recognizes that it cannot field the thirteen outfield players and goalkeeper required to play a match. The team coached by Marcelo Bielsa will not be able to face Liverpool at the mythical Anfield Road, scheduled for the “boxing day”, December 26.
The Watford team is also forced to cancel its trip to Wolverhampton on the same day, after having already postponed its two previous games.
It is a disaster that threatens the entire championship for the rest of the season: in the end, 12 postponements of meetings have accumulated because of bad weather and positive cases detected, which promises a second part of the season saturated with games. However, the clubs refused to temporarily suspend the season at a meeting last week.
This is an important period of the year both in sporting and economic terms, since three championship days follow each other between December 26 and January 3, generating a large influx of fans (who are on vacation), in the stadiums or in front of their TV sets.
This is an important period of the year both in sporting and economic terms, since three championship days follow each other between December 26 and January 3, generating a large influx of fans (who are on vacation), in the stadiums or in front of their TV sets.
In order to make their agenda easier, the Liverpool and Tottenham coaches have proposed to reduce the League Cup semi-finals to a one-off match, instead of the two-legged tie scheduled for early January. Spurs have three league games in hand, which will have to be accommodated in the second half of the season.
The big clubs, who play on multiple fields, particularly fear this accumulation and the resulting fatigue for the players. “I think it would be better to play one game,” said Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, a bit fatalistic, “but what I say is not too important.
The big clubs, who play on multiple fields, particularly fear this accumulation and the resulting fatigue for the players. “I think it would be better to play one game,” said Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, a bit fatalistic, “but what I say is not too important.
The advantage is that 84% of Premier League players have already received at least one dose, a rate that rises to 92% when aggregating club staff. No restrictions have been put in place to reduce the capacity of the public in English stadiums, but fans must provide proof of vaccination or show a negative test within the previous 48 hours. While the UK government has so far refused to take any further action, the “tidal wave” of the Omicron variant sweeping the UK could change that.
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