Four Premier League Matches Called Off due to COVID-19

The Christmas period is supposed to be full of snow, presents, but more importantly Football. However, this December, the Premier League is dealing with a plethora of COVID cases, and games around England are being called off due to the new Omicron variant. And now Saturday’s slate of Premier League games looks extremely lonely with only Aston Villa v Burnley set to go ahead at 3 pm.

Manchester United vs Brighton and Hove Albion - Postponed

The first game to be postponed for the weekend was the 12.30 kick-off between Manchester United and Brighton and Hove Albion. This is the second game in the last three that Brighton has missed due to COVID-19 in the opponents, but they’re probably grateful after their winless streak extended to 12 during midweek.

As for Manchester United, they were enjoying an unbeaten start to life under Ralph Rangnick. But their midweek fixture with Brentford was unable to go ahead and now their weekend fixture has suffered a similar fate.

Southampton vs Brentford - Postponed

Brentford watched the midweek round of Premier League fixtures from the couch. They were scheduled to play Manchester United but with a reported nineteen players/coaches testing positive - the game was axed. Now, Brentford will extend their Christmas break to a week as they deal with an outbreak.

The Saints did manage to play their midweek fixture with Crystal Palace. They secured a point away at Selhurst Park in a 2-2 draw, but they’ll have to wait until Boxing Day to return to the football field.

Watford vs Crystal Palace - Postponed

A London derby has also been postponed due to COVID-19.

Watford didn’t manage to play on Wednesday as their game against Burnley was canceled due to a similar outbreak. Some of Claudio Ranieri’s men arrived at the hotel in East Lancashire showing symptoms of the virus, and after a round of both PCR and lateral flow tests, results meant that the Premier League called the game off.

Due to the quarantining rules, and the amount of positive tests, the weekend’s match with Palace has gone the same way as the Burnley fixture. Unlike most Premier League teams, Crystal Palace was able to field a team midweek. They drew with Southampton at home and they will wait till Boxing Day for their fixture against Tottenham Hotspur (unless the fixtures are rearranged).

West Ham United vs Norwich City - Postponed

The final game to suffer from COVID-19 is West Ham United against Norwich. The Hammers will be thankful for the extended rest after a disappointing 2-0 loss away at Arsenal on Wednesday. Due to this game being postponed, West Ham will return to face Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup quarter-final.

Norwich City has turned a corner under Dean Smith. But their upturn in form has taken a slight delay with a COVID-19 outbreak. In a club statement, Norwich said: “The decision to postpone the fixture comes following PCR test confirmation of positive COVID-19 results, injuries, and illnesses within City’s playing squad and staff.”

Norwich has a Boxing Day fixture against Arsenal upon return.

The games that are going ahead - Premier League betting tips

Despite postponing three recent Premier League games as well as their Europa League Conference clash against Rennes, Spurs will host Liverpool as planned in North London this Sunday. You can check out our betting tip for Tottenham vs Liverpool here.

Additionally, we have another free betting tip for you here at Betting.co.uk, as strolling Newcastle host league-leaders Manchester City.

You can check out all of the latest Premier League and other football odds over at Betfred today.

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