The Premier League are facing demands for injuries to no longer influence Covid-19 postponements amid mounting fears for the integrity of the competition.

Six clubs – Newcastle United, Everton, Arsenal, Wolves, Leeds and Aston Villa – will go into the New Year round of matches with an extended break following midweek postponements during what is supposed to be the busiest period of the season.

Concern is now centring on how injuries are being grouped with Covid-19 cases and the extent to which the Premier League has enforced the principle that matches must go ahead if there are 14 players available and are only postponed in truly “exceptional circumstances”.

One club source described themselves as “increasingly p—– off” by perceived inconsistencies and another said that “we would all like far more transparency on the future reasons for each postponement”.

The New Year’s Day match between Leicester City and Norwich City became the latest postponed fixture last night after Norwich had only four outfield players able to train. It takes the total number of postponements this season to 17 and, asked earlier on Thursday whether there was now an integrity issue, West Ham manager David Moyes said: “I don’t agree injuries should play a part of it. But, if you don’t have enough to field a team, is it right? There’s a lot I don’t agree with. I’ve no idea at the moment what constitutes a game being called off. Those rules haven’t been absolutely adhered to.” 

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will also address the issue on Friday ahead of Sunday’s match against Newcastle, who were successful in asking the Premier League to postpone Thursday’s scheduled game against Everton.

Hasenhuttl immediately feared that Newcastle would ask for the postponement following injuries to Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Allan Saint-Maximin against Manchester United on Monday. Southampton believe that they were operating to very different rules when they were struck by numerous injuries last season and fielded a hugely inexperienced squad in losing 9-0 to Manchester United. 

“There were times where we had nine out – and we played academy players,” said Hasenhuttl. “Injuries are not Covid cases. They (Newcastle) had seven or eight players on the bench during their last game. They should still have thirteen players plus one (goalkeeper). This is the message from the Premier League.”

In announcing the Newcastle postponement, the Premier League said that “the club does not have the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), due to Covid-19 cases and injuries”. There was no further detail, however, on the precise nature of all the injuries and the exact numbers of Covid-19 cases within the playing squad.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has himself previously cited fears over the integrity of the competition if there was a situation whereby only a proportion of matches were being played and some clubs were disproportionately short of players.

League rules state that matches should go ahead if there are 14 squad players available but that the availability of Under-21 players, who have played senior professional football, will be considered. The Premier League have released a further series of criteria on which decisions are based following the emergence of the Omicron variant. These include the status of any Covid-19 outbreak and the club’s ability to prepare for a match. The final call, however, is ultimately made on a case-by-case basis and the Premier League board must also therefore rely on good faith in the assessment and reporting of injuries. 

The current Premier League tensions come as the English Football League moved on Thursday to limit postponements and uncertainty by simply agreeing that players would not be tested on a matchday unless they had Covid-19 symptoms. Arsenal’s match against Wolves was also among the midweek postponements and they face being left with a skeleton coaching staff against Manchester City on New Year’s Day, with head coach Mikel Arteta not alone in testing positive for Covid. Assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg took training on Wednesday, in the absence of the isolating Arteta, and is set to lead the team against City.

Leicester vs Norwich on New Year’s Day postponed after request by relegation strugglers

By John Percy

Norwich’s match at Leicester on New Year’s Day has been postponed after a request from the Premier League strugglers.

It is understood Norwich trained with only four outfield players on Thursday morning, due to a spiralling list of absentees through either Covid-19 or injuries, and their application to postpone the game was ratified by the league this evening.

Norwich have lost five matches in a row and were facing the prospect of being without at least ten players at Leicester, including Teemu Pukki, Tim Krul, Max Aarons, Grant Hanley, Mathias Normann and Todd Cantwell.

Krul, the goalkeeper, revealed on his Twitter account on Christmas Day that he had tested positive for Covid for the second time this year.

Dean Smith’s squad was further decimated after the 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace when left-back Dimitris Giannoulis was forced off at half-time with a foot injury.

Premier League teams are required to have 13 outfield players available and a goalkeeper, and Norwich did not have enough senior players to fulfil a matchday squad on January 1.

The postponement will be the 17th in the Premier League in three weeks, with Leicester also struggling with squad issues.

Smith, the Norwich head coach, described the chaotic fixture list as “lunacy” last week and opened up on the club’s issues after the defeat at Selhurst Park.

“We’ve got some major injuries and illness problems for some big players at this football club,” he said.

“I have been outspoken about the effects of the festive scheduling with omicron about at the moment, it’s been the same for all teams.

“I don’t really think it is fair that there are four teams asked to play today within 48 hours of Boxing Day. If it’s a fair competition then everybody should be playing within 48 hours.

“That’s tough to turn around a team, especially with the amount of injuries and illnesses we’ve got at the moment.”