Manchester United's match at Brentford is the only top-tier game to have been called off this week; Leicester and Tottenham both asked for their match on Thursday to be postponed; Premier League consider requests on a case-by-case basis
Wednesday 15 December 2021 17:08, UK
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his "disappointment" at the Premier League's refusal to postpone his side's match with Tottenham on Thursday as the club deal with a Covid-19 outbreak.
Rodgers said on Wednesday that Leicester will be without nine players due to a combination of coronavirus cases and injuries for the visit of Spurs, who are returning to action after missing their last two games due to a Covid outbreak of their own.
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has also revealed that Spurs asked the Premier League to postpone the game, so that they would be able to play their Europa Conference League game with Rennes that was postponed last week.
The only top-flight match to be called off this week has been Manchester United's trip to Brentford, which was scheduled for Tuesday night.
The Premier League board makes its decisions to postpone games on a case-by-case basis, taking into account medical advice and determining whether the club making a request has managed to bring an outbreak of Covid-19 under control.
Asked whether the club had sought a postponement, Rodgers said: "Yeah. We've looked at that. Unfortunately for us we weren't granted any dispensation which is obviously disappointing.
"We're a team and a club that have always wanted to support all the measures and everything else, but maybe when you need a little bit of support with the extreme situation that we're in, we weren't able to get that which was disappointing."
Leicester beat Newcastle 4-0 on Sunday but Rodgers has now revealed there was major doubt as to whether his side would even be able to take the field for the game.
"We were a big doubt for the game against Newcastle with all the issues and problems we had but because of the greater good of the game, and the supporters, we obviously played the game," he added.
"Since then we've picked up a couple more injuries as well that are maybe not directly from Covid but they're certainly Covid related because players are picking up injuries because we can't rotate the squad and the team.
"So it's a really a challenging time for us but whatever plays we'll always put it out to do our very best."
Spurs had to call off their Europa Conference League game with Rennes last week after a Covid-19 outbreak at the club and UEFA rules stated that the game had to be rescheduled by December 31.
The London club, who had a match at Burnley postponed due to poor weather before Sunday's match at Brighton was postponed due to their Covid-19 outbreak, identified Thursday as a possible date and asked the Premier League to reschedule the game at the King Power Stadium.
Spurs have even offered to travel to France to play the remaining game, where a win would send them through to the knockout stage.
Conte said: "For sure, the Premier League didn't want to postpone the game against Leicester, maybe because we have to play against Burnley and Brighton.
"We postponed two games before. I can understand, we can understand. On the other hand, I think we deserve to play our chance against Rennes to go to the next group.
"We don't find a good solution between UEFA and the Premier League, why Tottenham has to pay for this?
"It's not fair we have to pay for a situation that isn't our fault? I understand if we did something wrong but in this way, for the club, the players, the staff, it's very difficult to understand what is happening."
On Monday, the Premier League announced 42 new positive coronavirus cases among club players and staff - the highest weekly figure recorded since the release of testing results began in May last year.
Manchester United were forced to close first-team operations at their Carrington training complex on Monday afternoon after recording a "small number" of positive Covid cases among first-team players and staff.
Norwich and Aston Villa also reported cases this week, but played out their fixture on Tuesday night with Villa winning 2-0 at Carrow Road.
Brighton manager Graham Potter revealed there were "three or four" positive tests among his playing squad, but their match with Wolves on Wednesday is set to go ahead. Brighton are also scheduled to play Manchester United on Saturday.
The Premier League wrote to all of its clubs last Thursday instructing them to reinstate Covid-19 emergency measures, with testing of players and staff set to be increased.
Spectators will be required to show proof of double vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative lateral flow test to attend sporting events with crowds of more than 10,000 people after MPs approved government plans.
The proposals were part of the government's 'plan B' to tackle the rise in Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant, and were voted into force in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening by a majority of 243.
Sky Sports News understands Premier League clubs - whose average attendances all exceed 10,000 - have been preparing for this eventuality.
Which games involving Premier League clubs have been called off due to Covid-19? And what are the Premier League rules?
Tottenham vs Rennes - Thursday, December 9 - Europa Conference League
Tottenham's game with Rennes will not be rescheduled and has been referred to a disciplinary panel, UEFA has confirmed.
Brighton vs Tottenham - Sunday, December 12 - Premier League
A date for the rearranged fixture will be announced in due course.
Brentford vs Man Utd - Tuesday, December 14 - Premier League
Manchester United made a request to the Premier League to postpone the fixture after being forced to close first-team operations at their training ground on December 13.
