Premier League has postponed the Liverpool vs Leeds and Wolves vs Watford matches. Both the fixtures were set to take place on boxing day. Leeds and Watford requested the league to postpone these matches due to the unavailability of enough players. These two fixtures were going to take place on 26th December but are now postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Leeds have a long injury list and are also affected by the covid-19 outbreak. This has made it hard for them to get enough players for the fixture. Premier League also postponed Watford’s last week’s match against Crystal Palace and the Hornets will also not play this weekend. However, the Watford squad will be available to face West Ham on 28th December as Premier League has confirmed. As a result, both Liverpool and Wolves will get a surprise rest for this weekend.
The Premier League has now postponed a total of 12 top-flight matches including these two fixtures. Moreover, all the other boxing day matches will still take place. The Premier League had a meeting to postpone the whole league but it was decided that the fixtures will take place as scheduled. Premier League’s statement regarding the postponement was as follows,
“Following postponement requests from Leeds United and Watford as a result of COVID-19, the Premier League Board met this morning and regrettably agreed to call off the two affected clubs’ Boxing Day fixtures”
“The two matches are Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford and Liverpool v Leeds United, both due to be played on Sunday at 12:30 GMT. The Board today was able to make its decisions in advance of Boxing Day to give clarity to clubs and their supporters. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption caused to those fans’ festive plans.”
Why some fans are angry over the fact that Premier League has postponed these two fixtures?
The Premier League has rejected some other clubs’ requests to postpone their matches. As a result, the fans are unhappy as the league does not have a clear criterion over which matches should be postponed. Moreover, it was also decided that the whole league will not be postponed. However, this may not contain the virus as fast and well as it should be done. This will increase the chances of a spread of the coronavirus and result in more postponements.
The Premier League is the only league where there were COVID outbreaks within the teams’ camps. Nevertheless, the league is only deciding to postpone the matches where there is a major shortage of players. Not stopping the league can result in more cases and the matches will keep on getting postponed. The fans who had festive plans for these two fixtures will also be unhappy as their weekend plans are now ruined.
The clubs will not be able to play the boxing day fixtures and will be scheduled to play later. Although the other matches are still unaffected but it wouldn’t be a surprise if another match gets postponed by the Premier League. The league should get a clear criterion over which matches should be postponed and which should be not. If the league is not stopped then a proper criterion is a must to maintain transparency among the clubs and fans.
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