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Aston Villa’s FA Cup tie with Liverpool on Friday night is expected to go ahead, but Wednesday’s Premier League game against Tottenham is in doubt after a coronavirus outbreak in the first-team squad.
Villa will be without his entire first team, along with boss Dean Smith and assistants John Terry, Craig Shakespeare and Richard O’Kelly, as they are isolating themselves.
It means that the Premier League team will depend on their U23 and U18 teams, who were screened for the virus on Thursday, to keep the tie going. The results are being sped up so the club can find out on Friday lunchtime.
Villa Under-23 coach Mark Delaney will take over the team, if the game goes ahead.
Sky Sports News He has been told that Villa’s hierarchy hopes youth players are free of the virus.
Villa has always segregated a “red zone” within the Bodymoor Heath training ground since returning to the game in the summer, where only members of the first-team bubble are allowed; has been cordoned off the youth teams.
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Rob Dorsett explains the sequence of events that led to the closure of the Aston Villa training ground following a coronavirus outbreak among the playing team and staff.
That is why there is optimism that younger players have not been exposed to the outbreak, which has been described as Sky Sports News as “unbridled” within the first team squad.
The outbreak is believed to be much more extensive than it was in Fulham and Newcastle earlier this season.
As a result, Villa is unable to use any first-team bubble players or personnel for tonight’s game, including physical therapists, medical personnel, and the team manager.
Why can Villa play against Liverpool but the Spurs game is in doubt?
There is a feeling among Premier League clubs that there would be a problem with the integrity of the competition if Villa were forced to line up one side of the youth team players against Spurs on Wednesday.
However, time constraints with the FA Cup schedule mean there is very little flexibility to reschedule games, especially with the already congested match roster.
Any postponed matches would have to take place before the fourth round in just two weeks.
No club will automatically have to forfeit an FA Cup match if affected by the coronavirus, and each case will be assessed by the FA in its individual circumstances, Sky Sports News understands.
The FA has told clubs participating in the FA Cup third round that they should line up a team if they have at least 14 fit players, which may include players from the youth team, as they seek to avoid a match crowding.
PL registers 40 cases, the maximum of the season, in the last two rounds of testing
Villa’s positive cases come after the Premier League confirmed 40 positive coronavirus results were recorded, the season high, after two rounds of testing between December 28 and January 3.
Fulham have had two games postponed due to Covid – against Burnley and Tottenham – while the match on December 28 between Everton and Manchester city was suspended four hours before the start due to a series of positive cases in the city camp.
Burnley Coach Sean Dyche confirmed in his press conference Thursday that the club has “a couple of cases” after its most recent screening.
Association of professional footballers CEO Gordon Taylor has said players will be reminded not to hug their teammates during goal celebrations following a series of coronavirus cases in the leagues.
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