The COVID-19 outbreak has forced the league to postpone its third fixture for Boxing Day.
The Premier League has postponed the Boxing Day clash between Burnley and Everton due to COVID-19 cases and injuries with the latter team.
The two clubs were scheduled to meet on Sunday afternoon at 16:00 (CET) at Turf Moor. However, given Everton’s lack of available players, the Premier League granted the Blues’ request to postpone the fixture.
It came only a day after the club’s manager, Rafael Benitez, slammed the league’s reluctance to postpone the match.
“The Premier League Board has this morning regrettably approved Everton’s request to postpone their Boxing Day away fixture at Burnley,” read a statement.
“Everton were due to travel to Turf Moor to play on Sunday, at 15:00 GMT. The Board reviewed the club’s request today to postpone the match following further injuries to their squad.
“They concluded that the club will not be able to fulfill their fixture this weekend as a result of an insufficient number of players available to play due to COVD-19 cases and injuries.”
🗣 "It's not fair."
Rafa Benitez complains about Everton's game having to go ahead on boxing day with their limited squad available pic.twitter.com/8wnggYn29Y
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 23, 2021
Which other fixtures have been called off?
The Premier League’s decision to call off the Burnley and Everton game means that three of the nine Boxing Day fixtures have been postponed.
The other two matches – Liverpool vs Leeds United and Wolves vs Watford – were postponed on Thursday due to coronavirus.
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