The English Football League could be forced to stage the Carabao Cup semi-finals over one leg instead of two if this week’s quarter-finals fall victim to the deepening coronavirus crisis that has engulfed the game.
Telegraph Sport can reveal a repeat of last term’s single-legged semis would be among the options considered were Covid-19 to affect one or more of Tuesday and Wednesday’s matches.
A failure to complete all quarter-final ties this week would mean that at least one of the first legs of the semi-finals may not be played as scheduled on the week commencing Jan 3.
That would force the EFL either to postpone any affected semi-final to the following week – the current date of the second legs – and find a date for the return fixture, or stage both ties over 90 minutes.
Postponement would be especially problematic were Brentford’s quarter-final against Chelsea not played on Wednesday. That match is under threat amid a major outbreak among Thomas Frank’s team that saw their Premier League game at Southampton called off.
European champions Chelsea were already facing a massive fixture pile-up thanks to their participation in February’s Club World Cup and would have little scope for squeezing in an EFL Cup match before the final at Wembley later that month.
They could feasibly do so during the Premier League’s winter break at the end of January, but that coincides with World Cup qualifiers in all regions except Europe.
A failure to complete Tottenham Hotspur’s EFL Cup quarter-final against West Ham United on Wednesday would also leave Antonio Conte’s men facing a fixture headache after their last three matches were called off.
Perversely, being thrown out of the Europa Conference League for failing to play their final Group G match against Rennes would ease that headache by freeing up several midweek dates for Spurs to play rearranged Premier League matches.
Last season’s EFL Cup final was moved from February to April, but that was to allow supporters to attend after Government rules forcing football behind closed doors were relaxed.
Aston Villa’s Premier League game against Burnley on Saturday became the sixth of this weekend’s fixtures to be postponed following a Covid-19 outbreak among Steven Gerrard’s side.
Top-flight clubs are due to meet on Monday to discuss the growing crisis but are expected to resist calls for a festive firebreak amid fears that would cause more problems than it solves.
