The Aston Villa - Everton clash scheduled for this Sunday has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak at Villa.
[ MORE: How to watch PL in the USA ]
Pushed back from Saturday to Sunday to allow Villa extra time to have more players available (nine players and five members of staff have been self-isolating), the decision was made to postpone the game and play it later in the season.
Villa’s training ground has been closed since the outbreak occurred, but it is due to re-open on Sunday.
Aston Villa’s games against Tottenham and Everton have now been postponed since the outbreak in the Villa camp earlier this month, while they had to play their game against Liverpool in the FA Cup with their U18 and U23 players due to the tight turnaround between different rounds.
Here is the statement in full from the Premier League:
“Aston Villa’s home match against Everton, scheduled to be played on Sunday 17 January at 12:00 GMT, has been postponed by the Premier League Board. Following the rescheduling of Villa’s fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, which was due to be played last night, a significant number of players and staff remain in isolation. As a result, the Premier League Board has agreed to Aston Villa’s request to postpone their match on Sunday.”
Aston Villa - Newcastle rescheduled
Sticking with postponements and rearranged games, Aston Villa - Newcastle will take place on Jan. 23 at 3 p.m. ET.
After that game was postponed before it was due to be played on Dec. 4 (the first of six PL games to be postponed this season) due to an outbreak at Newcastle United, this game can be squeezed in as both Villa and Newcastle were knocked out of the FA Cup and have next weekend free.
The Premier League also issued the following statement regarding the COVID-19 protocols its clubs, players and staff must adhere to:
“The Premier League, in consultation with its clubs, has enhanced its COVID-19 protocols, in addition to reimplementing a twice-weekly testing programme as the health of players and staff remains the priority. The protocols, which strengthen key elements of the existing guidance, came into immediate effect last week.”