London, January 5 (BNA): The outbreak of the Coruna virus among Liverpool players and staff led to the postponement of the team’s match against Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday, adding to the backlog of English football due to the fast-spreading outbreak of Omicron.
The English Football League, which runs the cup competition, has agreed to a request from Liverpool to cancel the match due to a series of positive tests at the club that led to the closure of its training ground.
Availability of players has already been affected by injuries and the absence of the African Nations Cup, which Liverpool deprives of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita.
The first leg that was scheduled to take place at Arsenal on Thursday will now be played at Anfield on January 13. The return match will be held at the Emirates Stadium on January 20, according to the Associated Press.
Liverpool thanked Arsenal and the Premier League for their understanding, “as we continue to move through this difficult period.”
The club said Pepin Leenders, the assistant coach who had been filling Jurgen Klopp’s place while the Liverpool boss was in isolation, was one of “several players and staff” who tested positive for COVID-19 in the latest round of testing on Tuesday. .
The latest wave of positive tests prompted the club to close its first team training facilities, Wednesday, after consulting with public health authorities. Tuesday’s practice has also been cancelled.
Some clubs had previously had to lose matches in the competition due to an outbreak of a virus in their team. Competition rules state that matches canceled due to COVID-19 could be rearranged to be played no later than the start of the next round, meaning Liverpool had until February 27 – the final match date at Wembley Stadium – to fit two feet from the semi-finals.
The English game has been greatly disrupted by the Corona virus, as 18 Premier League matches have been postponed in recent weeks due to the outbreak of the disease in teams. Other major European leagues were on planned winter holidays, as their teams began returning to training and faced their own problems.
Burnley, who are in the Premier League’s relegation zone, are behind by four league games this season – three of them due to the COVID-19 outbreak in opponents’ teams that has led to matches being canceled, twice on match day.
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