Tuesday night’s Premier League match in west London has been postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak.
The Premier League has postponed the match between Brentford and Manchester United, which was due to take place on Tuesday.
This decision came after a COVID-19 outbreak at Manchester United. On Sunday morning, a ‘small number’ of players and staff members took lateral flow tests and tested positive for the virus. The club shut down all operations in Carrington, including first-team training, to minimize the risk of infection.
PCR tests on Monday confirmed the positive COVID-19 results, forcing those with the virus to stay in isolation.
United then made a request to the Premier League to postpone their trip to Brentford, which the league’s board accepted based on guidance from medical advisors.
The league said it would rearrange the fixture ‘in due course’.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
Manchester United have closed down first-team operations at Carrington due to the results of positive PCR tests pic.twitter.com/INcduVex2p
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 13, 2021
The Premier League’s statement
“The Premier League Board has decided to postpone Brentford’s home fixture against Manchester United, due to be played on Tuesday, 14 December at 19.30 GMT,” read the statement.
“The decision was taken following guidance from medical advisers due to the exceptional circumstances of an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak within Manchester United’s squad.”
What did Manchester United say?
A statement on Monday night read: “Given the cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the Club requested the match to be rearranged. The Premier League Board took the decision to postpone based on guidance from medical advisors.”
”Manchester United regrets the inconvenience caused to Brentford FC and to the fans of both clubs by COVID-19.”
42 players & staff have tested positive in England
United are not the only club suffering a COVID-19 outbreak. The Premier League reported on Monday that 42 players and staff have tested positive in the past week – the most ever recorded in a seven-day period.
The league hadn’t recorded such a high number since the 40 positive cases last January.
Tottenham, Leicester City, Brighton, Norwich City, and Aston Villa have all confirmed positive cases.
In fact – like Brentford and United – Brighton and Tottenham had their league match at the weekend postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak at Spurs.
The Premier League has told clubs to return to emergency measures after England introduced new COVID-19 restrictions, aimed at limiting the spread of the Omicron variant.
When will Manchester United return to action?
As things stand, the Red Devils will face Brighton at Old Trafford instead this Saturday.
Ralf Rangnick’s side defeated Norwich 1-0 last time out to make it three league wins in a row. They are in fifth-place in the standings, only one point outside the top-four.
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