The Premier League has confirmed that two fixtures scheduled to be played on December 26 have been postponed due to coronavirus outbreaks.
Liverpool vs. Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Watford have become the latest fixtures to fall to COVID-19, taking the overall tally of postponed games in the top flight to 12.
Leeds and Watford submitted requests to the Premier League to have the games postponed due to rising coronavirus cases amongst their staff.
Both clubs were adjudged to be lacking enough players to fulfil the fixture, with Leeds' situation made worse by their lengthy injury list in addition to a COVID outbreak.
Watford also saw last weekend's match against Crystal Palace postponed, but the Premier League has confirmed that their December 28 fixture against West Ham United should still be able to go ahead due to players coming out of isolation.
"Following postponement requests from Leeds United and Watford as a result of COVID-19, the Premier League Board met this morning and regrettably agreed to call off the two affected clubs' Boxing Day fixtures," read a statement from the Premier League.
"The two matches are Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford and Liverpool v Leeds United, both due to be played on Sunday at 12:30 GMT. The Board today was able to make its decisions in advance of Boxing Day to give clarity to clubs and their supporters. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption caused to those fans' festive plans.
"The Board concluded that Leeds United will not be able to fulfil their fixture this weekend due to the number of players with COVID-19, injuries and illness. The club's training ground has also been closed after consultation with the UK Health Security Agency and the Premier League.
"Watford FC continue to have an insufficient number of players to field a team after their game against Crystal Palace FC last Saturday was postponed following a COVID-19 outbreak. Due to players coming out of isolation, it is fully expected Watford will be available for their fixture on Tuesday 28 December, against West Ham United."
As things stand, the remaining seven Premier League matches due to take place on December 26 are still unaffected.
Barney Corkhill
