Tottenham will face Fulham on Wednesday night after having their match at Aston Villa postponed, while the Premier League has announced 36 new cases in its latest round of coronavirus testing.
Fulham’s trip to Spurs was scheduled for December 30 but was postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak at the Craven Cottage club.
The west London club’s derby versus Chelsea has also been put back from Friday night to Saturday evening.
Fixture switches… 🆚 Spurs – Wednesday 13 Jan, 20:15🆚 Chelsea – Saturday 16 Jan, 17:30#FFC pic.twitter.com/ECALFhqKBv — Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) January 11, 2021
Spurs’ fixture against Villa had been in doubt since it emerged last week that there had been a Covid-19 outbreak at the midlands club, with 10 of their first-team players testing positive.
However, Fulham’s acceptance of bringing the match against Tottenham forward to this week means Spurs’ backlog has remained the same, rather than got even worse.
Villa were forced to shut their training ground and fielded a youth team in the FA Cup third-round tie against Liverpool last Friday.
Villa’s league match against Everton – due to be played on Saturday evening – has been pushed back to Sunday, kicking off at noon, the Premier League said.
Aston Villa’s match against @SpursOfficial, due to be played at Villa Park on Wednesday 13 January, has been rescheduled following a decision by the Premier League Board Full statement: https://t.co/wFj1It79ia #PL #AVLTOT pic.twitter.com/4Mr2HiTchJ — Premier League (@premierleague) January 11, 2021
“Following Aston Villa’s request to rearrange the fixture, and due to the number of players and staff who have either tested positive for Covid-19 or have been placed in isolation by the club, the Premier League had no other option than to reschedule the game,” a league statement read.
“With the health of players and staff the priority, the league continues to work with Aston Villa on measures to ensure their league season resumes safely and at the earliest opportunity.
“The Premier League wishes those with Covid-19 a full and swift recovery and will rearrange Aston Villa’s game against Tottenham Hotspur as soon as possible.
“As a result of this rescheduling, Spurs will now play their home match against Fulham in its place, on Wednesday January 13 at 8.15pm on Amazon Prime Video. The fixture was previously postponed on December 30.
“With Fulham now playing on Wednesday, January 13, their home fixture against Chelsea will be moved from Friday, January 15 to Saturday, January 16 at 5.30pm, and will remain live on Sky Sports.
“Everton’s away game at Aston Villa will be rescheduled from Saturday, January 16 5.30pm to Sunday, January 17, 12pm, and will remain live on Sky Sports.”
Meanwhile, the 36 positive cases following the Premier League’s latest round of testing follows last week’s total of 40.
A statement read: “The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday January 4 and Sunday January 10, across two rounds of testing, 2,593 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19. Of these, there were 36 new positive tests.
“Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days.”
