Everton set to play Liverpool in first game back; match will be shown free-to-air live on Sky Sports
Tuesday 2 June 2020 17:52, UK
Everton centre-back Yerry Mina is set to miss the restart of the Premier League season after picking up a thigh tear in training on Friday.
Mina will be out for "several weeks" which means he will be unavailable to play when Everton resume the campaign on the weekend of June 19-21.
A short statement on Everton's website said: "Everton Football Club can confirm Yerry Mina is set to be sidelined for several weeks after sustaining a muscle injury.
"A scan confirmed the Colombia international suffered a partial tear in his left quad muscle during training last week.
"The 25-year-old is now in the early stages of his rehabilitation under the care of the club's medical staff and making good progress."
Everton are due to play league leaders and Merseyside rivals Liverpool in their first game back - a match that will be broadcast free-to-air live on Sky Sports.
Police have requested the fixture - which was due to be held at Everton's Goodison Park - be played at a neutral venue.
The Premier League have received proposals from the police setting out which games will need to moved to a neutral venue, and they included any matches in which Liverpool could win the title.
Jurgen Klopp's side need two more wins - or one, if Manchester City lose their game in hand against Arsenal - to reach a points total which City would be unable to overtake.
Other players could be forced to miss the resumption of the season if they test positive in this week's round of testing.
All players and club staff are being tested for coronavirus twice a week ahead of the restart date of June 17, with this week's sessions taking place on Tuesday and Friday.
The current protocol as part of Project Restart rules that in any case of a Premier League player returning a positive test he would be kept away from group training for a total of 14 days including the seven days of government-advised self-isolation.
Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games when the season resumes. In addition to the 39 matches already scheduled to be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches will be available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.
