Aston Villa have requested the postponement of their second Premier League game in a row as the club continue to feel the effects of a significant coronavirus outbreak within the first team.
The Villans have asked the league to postpone Sunday’s kick-off to noon against Everton, with a decision expected in the next 24 hours.
Nine Villa players and five staff members tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and according to The Telegraph there are fears they will not be allowed to return to their Bodymoor Heath training complex until Saturday , leaving only 24 hours to prepare for the Toffees visit.
The news follows the postponement of Villa’s midweek home game against Tottenham on Wednesday – which was called off at their request – with Fulham traveling to face Spurs in a revamped meeting instead.
Villa was forced to field a squad made up of academy players in the FA Cup third round against Liverpool on Friday night after the outbreak, with different rules in this competition.
The Premier League is due to meet to discuss the request on Wednesday as it continues to assess possible postponements on a case-by-case basis.
Although the club have been successful in their plea for the Tottenham game to be revamped, the league may decide the game must take place amid the plethora of canceled games across the country.
However, the Telegraph report adds that the club hierarchy believes their circumstances are “extraordinary”, with Dean Smith and his players isolating themselves and unable to train since the outbreak, and that it would be unfair to face Carlo Ancelotti’s team with so little time to prepare.
قدر الله ماشاء فعل
بعد الإصابة فى الرأس 6 غرز ، تعرضت لمزق وبداية ورا بعض غبت لمدة شهر ثم بعد التأدهيل وبداية العودة لمدتربت.الحمد الله على كل شئ وربنا يشفي كل مريض pic.twitter.com/OEoF4ZG3k7
– Trezeguet (@Trezeguet) January 12, 2021
Egypt winger Trezeguet revealed on Twitter that he was one of Villa’s players who tested positive, contracting the virus as he returned from his injury.
“After I was hit on the head with 6 stitches, after some misfires for a month, then after rehabilitation and the start of returning to group training, I was infected with the coronavirus,” he writes .
