Insight provided into extent of Covid outbreak at Villa Park as Liverpool clash to go ahead, but Spurs in doubt
A series of updates surrounding both the extent and implications of the outbreak of Covid-19 at Aston Villa have been forthcoming online on Friday.
Last Updated: January 9, 2021 12:07 pm
Concern in Aston
The major talking point in English football on Thursday of course surrounded the situation at Villa Park.
Just 24 hours prior to the club’s scheduled FA Cup meeting with Liverpool, word was forthcoming that Aston Villa had been forced to close the gates of the club’s training ground.
This came on the back of a ‘significant’ number of coronavirus cases being confirmed in Dean Smith’s squad:
‘Aston Villa can confirm that the Club has closed its Bodymoor Heath training ground after a significant Coronavirus outbreak.’
‘A large number of first team players and staff returned positive tests after being routinely tested on Monday and immediately went into isolation.’
‘A second round of testing was carried out immediately and produced more positive results today.’
Aston Villa can confirm that the Club has closed its Bodymoor Heath training ground after a significant Coronavirus outbreak.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 7, 2021
Liverpool a go/Spurs in doubt
The situation at Villa, in turn, immediately resulted in tonight’s planned meeting between the Claret and Blue and Liverpool being thrown up in the air.
In their initial statement, the Villans confirmed that:
‘Discussions are ongoing between medical representatives of the Club, the Football Association and the Premier League.’
As outlined above, though, an update on the situation has this afternoon been forthcoming, with the clash, as things stand, set to go ahead:
Confirmed: Aston Villa will play Liverpool in the #FACup third round tonight. Game goes ahead
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) January 8, 2021
Whilst Liverpool will no doubt be thrilled with the news that their FA Cup opener does not require re-planning, though, today’s decision on the part of the Football Association will likely be viewed as a blow by Aston Villa.
This comes with a further insight into the worrying extent of the Covid outbreak in Dean Smith’s squad having since been forthcoming.
10 members of the Villans’ playing staff have now returned positive tests, meaning the club’s XI to take on the English champions this evening is set to be heavily weakened:
Aston Villa had 14 positive Covid-19 tests in their first team bubble – 10 of which were players.
— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) January 8, 2021
Whilst the FA have come to the decision to push forward with Friday’s scheduled fixture, however, it remains to be seen whether the Premier League opt for a similar path when it comes to Villa’s next league outing.
The Claret and Blue are due to take on Tottenham next Wednesday, but, due to the differing rules and regulations in place across the different competitions in England, it is currently altogether unclear whether the clash will actually go ahead.
This of course comes with Spurs having already seen a scheduled Premier League meeting with Fulham postponed for similar reasons late last month.
#AVFC‘s FA Cup tie with #LFC tonight is expected to go ahead but their Premier League game against #THFC is in doubt after an outbreak of coronavirus in the first-team squad.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 8, 2021
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This article was edited by Josh Barker.
Football Live streaming: Featured matches on January 17, 2020
| Game | Time | Predicted Score | Live Score Prediction/Live Score | How to Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Manchester City FC vs Crystal Palace FC | 17 January, 19:15 (In 17 minutes) | 2-0 | 2-0 |
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| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester United FC | 17 | 10 | 36 |
| 2 | Leicester City FC | 18 | 12 | 35 |
| 3 | Liverpool FC | 17 | 16 | 33 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 18 | 16 | 33 |
| 5 | Manchester City FC | 16 | 12 | 32 |
| 6 | Everton FC | 17 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | Chelsea FC | 18 | 12 | 29 |
| 8 | Southampton FC | 18 | 5 | 29 |
| 9 | West Ham United FC | 18 | 4 | 29 |
| 10 | Aston Villa FC | 15 | 13 | 26 |
| 11 | Arsenal FC | 18 | 1 | 24 |
| 12 | Leeds United | 18 | -4 | 23 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 18 | -7 | 23 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 19 | -8 | 22 |
| 15 | Newcastle United FC | 17 | -9 | 19 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 19 | -7 | 17 |
| 17 | Burnley FC | 17 | -13 | 16 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 17 | -11 | 12 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 18 | -27 | 11 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 19 | -22 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 13 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 11 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 11 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 11 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 10 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 8 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 8 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 7 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 7 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 6 |
| Abraham, Tammy | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 5 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 5 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 5 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 5 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dunk, Lewis | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 4 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 5 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 5 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 4 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 5 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 0 | 4 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 4 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 4 |
| Klich, Mateusz | Leeds United | 0 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 8 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 7 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 4 |
| Chilwell, Benjamin | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 4 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 4 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 3 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 3 |
