Villa v Burnley postponed due to new positive COVID-19 cases in Steven Gerrard’s squad

Villa
announced
that
the
game
would
not
go
ahead
just
over
two
hours
before
it
was
due
to
kick
off.

The
late
postponement
of
the
fixture
at
Villa
Park
left
Leeds
United’s
home
encounter
with
Arsenal
as
the
only
top-flight
fixture
in
England
on
Saturday.

Aston
Villa
can
confirm
that
today’s
Premier
League
fixture
with
Burnley
has
been
postponed
due
to
an
increased
amount
of
positive
Covid-19
test
results
within
our
playing
squad.

—
Aston
Villa
(@AVFCOfficial)

December
18,
2021

Villa
said
in
a
statement:
“The
results
of
PCR
tests,
which
were
taken
yesterday
prior
to
training
as
well
as
lateral
flow
tests,
were
received
this
morning
and
confirmed
further
depletion
of
our
playing
squad
which
was
already
impacted
upon
for
our
trip
to
Norwich
in
midweek.

“All
individuals
who
tested
positive
are
now
isolating
in
line
with
Premier
League
and
government
guidance
and
protocols.

“The
club
is
extremely
sorry
for
the
inconvenience
caused
to
Burnley
Football
Club,
both
our
own
supporters
and
the
Burnley
fans
due
to
attend
the
fixture
but
have
acted
as
swiftly
as
possible
this
morning
to
minimise
disruption.”

Everton’s
game
against
Leicester
City
on
Sunday
was
also
called
off,
while
a
whole
host
of
midweek
matches
were
postponed
due
to
soaring
numbers
of
positive
COVID-19
cases.

As
it
stands,
three
matches
are
set
to
go
ahead
on
Sunday,
with
leaders
Manchester
City
travelling
to
relegation-threatened
Newcastle
United,
Liverpool
at
Tottenham
and
Chelsea
on
the
road
at
Wolves.