Leicester vs Tottenham clash postponed due to Covid-19 spike

The Premier League fixture between Leicester and Tottenham on Thursday night has been called off due to a spike in Covid-19 cases in the Foxes' camp.

Clubs across the country are struggling as Covid-19 cases rise throughout the United Kingdom, with Brentford vs Manchester United and Burnley vs Watford both called off this week due to outbreaks.

A statement from the Premier League reads: "The Premier League Board has postponed Leicester City’s match against Tottenham Hotspur tonight due to an increase in positive COVID-19 cases within Leicester’s squad today.

"In light of the new information, Leicester applied this morning for the fixture to be called off due to an ongoing outbreak within the squad, which has resulted in more players and staff testing positive for COVID-19 today.

"This has left the club with an insufficient number of players available to fulfil the match.

"Following consultation with the Premier League and UK Health Security Agency, the club’s first-team training ground was closed this morning to help contain the outbreak.

"The Premier League understands this decision will disappoint and frustrate fans who were due to attend this evening’s match and apologises for the inconvenience and disruption caused at such short notice."

Leicester said: "The Club regrets the inconvenience caused to Tottenham Hotspur and both sets of supporters by Thursday night’s postponement."

Both Leicester and Tottenham had previously asked for the game to be called off, though no decision was made and instead it has been left until the day of the match, resulting in fans travelling when they could have saved money and time had they been given ample notice of the fixture's status.

In his press conference earlier this week, Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers revealed: “We’ve still got a number of players out. We’ve got nine players out through COVID and other medical issues. In terms of COVID, we’re still where we were.”

Spurs boss Antonio Conte was also asked whether his club had asked for the game to be postponed and replied: “Yeah, but for me it’s very difficult to speak about this topic. For sure, the Premier League didn’t want to postponed the game against Leicester, maybe because we have to play against Burnley and Brighton. We postponed two games before. I can understand, we can understand.

“I understand if we did something wrong but in this way, for the club, the players, the staff, it’s very difficult to understand what’s happening.”

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