The Gameweek 17 clash between Brentford and Manchester United was officially postponed by the Premier League late on Monday evening.
This is the third Gameweek in five in which a fixture has fallen by the wayside, after Tottenham Hotspur’s matches against Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion were called off.
This latest decision follows an outbreak of Covid-19 among the Red Devils’ first-team players and staff, with a statement reading:
Manchester United can confirm that our Premier League fixture at Brentford FC, on Tuesday 14 December at 19:30, has been postponed and will be rescheduled in due course.Following PCR confirmation of positive LFT Covid-19 tests among the first-team staff and players, the outbreak requires ongoing surveillance. A decision was taken to close first-team operations at the Carrington Training Complex for 24 hours to help minimise risk of further infection, and individuals who tested positive are isolating in line with Premier League protocols.
Given cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the Club requested the match to be rearranged. The Premier League Board took the decision to postpone based on guidance from medical advisors.
Manchester United regrets the inconvenience caused to Brentford FC and to the fans of both clubs by Covid-19.
WHEN WILL BRENTFORD V MANCHESTER UNITED BE REARRANGED FOR?
With Brentford in EFL Cup quarter-final action next week, there aren’t any free midweeks to accommodate the postponed fixture this calendar year.
Gameweek 21 is the first chance of a Double Gameweek but only if the Bees lose their EFL Cup last-eight tie against Chelsea: two free midweeks would open up between Gameweeks 21 and 22 if that were to happen.
After that, Gameweeks 25 and 28 could accommodate the match as those are ‘off’ weeks for United in between their Champions League round-of-16 tie against Atletico Madrid.
COULd MANCHESTER UNITED v BRIGHTON IN GAMEWEEK 18 BE AFFECTED?
The Gameweek 18 clash between Ralf Rangnick’s troops and Brighton on Saturday lunchtime is the next cause for concern, following as it does only four days after the two clubs’ scheduled Gameweek 17 fixtures.
With Carrington shut for 24 hours at the very least, it wouldn’t take much of a delay in proceedings for United’s Gameweek 18 preparations to be disrupted to the point where another request to the Premier League for a fixture rearrangement might be submitted.
With both sides out of the EFL Cup, the match could theoretically be shifted back a few days (from Saturday 18 December to, say, Wednesday 22 December) to help ease with any training ground disruption.
Albion themselves reported “three or four” positive Covid cases ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers but as far as we know, that match will still go ahead.
OTHER GAMEWEEK 17 FIXTURES AT RISK?
We discussed other Gameweek 17 fixtures potentially at risk in our earlier article, along with a section on ‘Covid coping strategies’ in FPL.
POSITIVE COVID CASES RISE SHARPLY
This was the second big news announcement of the day, following on from the Premier League’s weekly bulletin on positive Covid-19 cases.
They confirmed that between December 6-12, there were 3,805 players and club staff tested for Covid-19. Of these, there were 42 new positive cases.
The previous high mark for weekly positive cases in 2021/22 was 16, so we really are entering into a period where disruption could wreak havoc in FPL.
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