The increase in Coronavirus cases has already seen 10 Premier League fixtures postponed, with six of those arriving in Gameweek 18.
It could have been more, too, with Chelsea seeing their request to call off Sunday’s game at Wolverhampton Wanderers rejected, which infuriated manager Thomas Tuchel, who said forcing what remained of his squad to travel to the match had put them at risk of catching Covid.
Now, all 20 top-flight managers are due to meet with the Premier League on Monday to discuss their concerns, so we may get an update soon as to what’s going to happen moving forward, but for now, here is what we know so far.
PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS SET TO MEET ON MONDAY
Premier League clubs will meet on Monday to discuss the growing crisis, with a number of issues to be tackled, including the schedule, late postponements and jab take-up.
There are also concerns over player release for next month’s African Cup of Nations, which has implications for the likes of Mohamed Salah (£13.1m), Emmanuel Dennis (£6.0m), Edouard Mendy (£6.2m) and Sadio Mane (£11.9m), all of whom are currently due to miss Premier League matches.
Managers and captains are also due to hold their own meetings, with several discussing the impact of Covid over the weekend.
“We play now on Wednesday, Sunday and Tuesday. That is impossible. We do not have the players. We could maybe have another case or two. We have to think about it, we cannot just push it all through. First of all, take away the second semi-final of the Carabao Cup. Just play once, wherever you play it I don’t care. The 26th and 28th of December is really not possible. We would prefer to play but we need some help. If we carry on we cannot carry on as usual. If we don’t play anymore and have a break I am fine. But I know the problem. When do you want to play the games? It is not that easy to fit them in. We said before Coronavirus that it was a bit busy and now it gives us a proper punch.” – Jurgen Klopp
“The regulators will make the decision over whether a game is played or not but we all need to understand the reasons behind it. We are going to have to find a way. We knew when we started the season this (Covid problems) could be a possibility and I am sure there was a Plan A, B and C. We need clarity.” – Mikel Arteta
“I think it’s probably on a knife edge would be my verdict on it. I think when you start losing players to Covid, I think then the worry for me is that the competition becomes slightly unfair. I don’t think anyone wants to see that. The biggest thing people want to see is a fair league. They don’t want to see disparity in games and players missing. We all want the product to continue, I’m desperate to continue the programme myself but I do think that the welfare of the players and supporters has to come first.” – Eddie Howe
GAMEWEEK 20 POTENTIALLY OFF?
On Sunday evening, The Athletic reported that one of the options to be discussed is to trigger a Christmas circuit-breaker, which would involve an entire round of games – Gameweek 20 – being postponed.
The fixtures impacted in this scenario would be:
Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 20 schedule
That would have huge implications for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
For example, Chelsea would face successive matches against Liverpool (h), Manchester City (a) and Tottenham Hotspur (h) after facing Brighton and Hove Albion (h) in Gameweek 19, whereas the likes of Leicester City, Newcastle United, Watford and Everton would head straight into more appealing runs.
If that block of fixtures above is to be merged into a current Gameweek further down the line, it also increases the likelihood of a huge Double Gameweek involving all 20 teams, which would seem an ideal time to deploy the Bench Boost chip.
WHICH GAMEWEEK 19 FIXTURES COULD BE AT RISK?
As is stands, all Gameweek 19 fixtures are currently scheduled to go ahead, at least for now, but this handy graphic from the excellent @Legomane_FPL details those most at risk.
The purple blobs indicate a match which involves a squad with a current Covid outbreak, while the yellow ones are squads that are yet to reach the Premier League threshold for postonement.
This is a fast-moving situation, and with cases rising daily, there are likely to be more postponements in the days ahead. Because of that, holding onto those transfers till as close to deadline as possible is of course advisable.
We’ll be back with an update and reaction from today’s Premier League meeting as soon as information is released, but for now, you can read the club-by-club latest via our Covid watch page.
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