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Tottenham vs Arsenal: Premier League postpones north London derby

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The 205th north London derby has been put on hold amid a lack of available players for Arsenal.

The Premier League has officially postponed the match between Tottenham and Arsenal for Sunday evening.

The bitter north London rivals were scheduled to lock horns in another derby this weekend. On Friday, however, Arsenal lodged a request to the Premier League to postpone the fixture.

The Gunners cited a lack of available players to field a side as the reason for their actions. Now the Premier League, upon assessing the situation in a board meeting on Saturday, has granted the request.

“Following a request from Arsenal, the Premier League Board met today and regrettably agreed to postpone the club’s away fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, due to be played at 16:30 GMT on Sunday 16 January,” read a statement.

“With Arsenal having fewer than the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), the Board accepted the club’s application.

“The decision is a result of a combination of COVID-19, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.”

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, and Nicolas Pepe are all competing in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Bukayo Saka, Cedric Soares, and Calum Chambers all picked up injuries in the 0-0 draw of Arsenal’s EFL Cup semi-final first leg at Liverpool on Thursday, while Granit Xhaka is suspended and Martin Odegaard is ill.

The Premier League has now postponed 21 games this season because of coronavirus. The league previously called off Burnley’s game against Leicester City on Friday for similar reasons.

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