Everton have released a statement expressing frustration over the decision to postpone their meeting with Manchester City on Monday night.
The Premier League decided to postpone the game until late Monday after the City team were hit by a new batch of positive COVID-19 cases, adding to the positive tests of Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus last week.
As you can see, it’s clearly not over yet… remember to follow the rules and protect yourself and your family ❤️ ?? ❤️ ?? https://t.co/6FfBolvD7I
– Aymeric Laporte (@Laporte) December 28, 2020
While Everton clearly supported the postponement initially, they then took to their official website to question the decision and call the Premier League to explain their thought process.
“Everton Football Club regrets the postponement of tonight’s game against Manchester City – not only for the 2,000 fans who are said to have attended, but for fans from Merseyside and around the world,” a statement read.
“Our players were prepared for the game, as were the team staff and everyone at Goodison. The day is the most important date on our calendar. And it was a great one.
“While Everton will always have public safety at the forefront, we will ask for full disclosure of all information Manchester City has provided to the Premier League so that Club can clearly understand why this decision was made.”
City has yet to confirm the extent of the outbreak in the squad, but most reports suggest at least three new players have tested positive for COVID-19.
Athletic say City have closed their training ground amid fears their bubble has been breached, and the game has been called off to ensure the safety of everyone involved with both Everton and City.
However, the Daily Star claims there have been at least five other positive cases among the playing squad, so City are now rolling out tests for everyone who has been on the training ground to try to isolate the virus. as soon as possible.
It is not yet clear how the virus made its way into City’s camp, but The Sun claim club officials believe it stems from their recent stay in London for their Carabao Cup quarter-final encounter with Arsenal.
City hope to resume training as soon as possible, but until the severity of the outbreak is determined, upcoming meetings with Chelsea (January 3), Manchester United (January 6) and Birmingham (January 10) all appear uncertain.
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