The EFL has granted Liverpool’s request to postpone Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal amid an escalating Covid outbreak at the club.
Liverpool submitted the request on Tuesday on the grounds of player availability and a rising number of positive tests among the squad and staff. The assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders, who has been in interim charge of the first team while Jürgen Klopp is in isolation, subsequently tested positive along with more players and staff. The club closed its first-team training facility on Wednesday after consultation with the relevant public health authorities.
The EFL said the postponement was down to “a severe outbreak of Covid infections amongst their management and playing staff”. The first leg of the tie will be played at Anfield next Thursday, when the second leg was due to take place, and the return the following Thursday.
“The EFL has been in regular dialogue with the cub over the past 48 hours in an attempt to understand whether the tie could proceed but significant developments over this period have resulted in the club reporting an ever-increasing number of Covid cases,” the league said.
“Having now fully reviewed the circumstances involved, the league has accepted Liverpool’s request after determining, albeit reluctantly, that a postponement was the only option as the club looks to mitigate against the further risk of infection amongst its squad and staff alongside ensuring public health was protected by not travelling from Liverpool to London.”
Liverpool’s first-team training facility is expected to be closed for at least 48 hours, which would impact on preparations for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Shrewsbury. The club’s development squads have separate facilities at Kirkby and could be utilised against the League One side in the event of Liverpool being short of first-team players.
Aston Villa were forced to resort to similar measures for last season’s third-round tie against Liverpool after their entire first team ‘bubble’ was placed into isolation.
Nine Liverpool players were missing at Chelsea last Sunday, and Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Naby Keïta have subsequently reported for the Africa Cup of Nations.
In addition to Lijnders, who received his result on Tuesday night, the club have reported further positive tests for Covid among players and staff overnight and on Wednesday morning. - Guardian
