Liverpool have formally requested that Thursday’s Carabao Cup fixture against Arsenal be postponed after further Covid-19 outbreaks.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had been scheduled to play their semi-final first leg at the Emirates Stadium, but have been dealing with their manager and players testing positive for the virus. The club cancelled training on Tuesday at their Kirkby base before asking for the match to be put back.
Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joël Matip were missing from the squad who drew with Chelsea on Sunday following suspected positive results and there have been further cases since. Klopp also has Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Naby Keïta away with their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations, but the club’s request for a postponement is linked to illness and injury.
The club said in a statement: “Liverpool Football Club can confirm an application has been submitted for the postponement of Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final, first-leg tie with Arsenal due to an escalating number of suspected positive Covid-19 cases and player availability. The Reds have formally requested to the EFL that the fixture is rescheduled after further suspected positive tests were registered among players and staff, allied to other factors impacting selection, including illness and injury.
“In response, the club halted preparations at the AXA Training Centre, meaning Tuesday’s first-team training session was cancelled.
“Among the considerations which led to today’s application to the EFL is the need for travelling supporters to be given as much notice as possible of any potential postponement.
“With no prospect of the situation improving ahead of Thursday’s fixture and the potential for it to worsen, the club considers it both prudent and reasonable to ask for the fixture to be rescheduled.”
The competition organisers now have to decide whether to accept Liverpool’s request for the game to be postponed. They are due to host the second leg next Thursday.
An EFL spokesperson said: “The League has this evening received a request from Liverpool FC to postpone Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg versus Arsenal FC, which will now be considered in accordance with the competition rules alongside information submitted by the club. We will look to confirm the League’s position as soon as possible, once the circumstances have been fully reviewed.”
Liverpool had their Boxing Day fixture postponed after an outbreak in the Leeds United camp. That Premier League fixture will now need to be rearranged for the second half of the season. The Carabao Cup final is scheduled for Feb 27 at Wembley, at which time top-flight teams will be in the middle of congested schedules to play matches postponed during a festive period severely disrupted by the omicron variant of Covid-19. Klopp spoke about the outbreak ahead of the Chelsea game, which he missed, saying that Liverpool had been gradually hit by infections, rather than blocks of players picking up the virus.
“We never had this proper outbreak where 15 to 20 players had it. For us, it is every day, another one, stuff happens more and more often,” he said.
“It’s like a lottery in the morning, waiting for the result. It is pretty much day-by-day, always one case.”
The request for a postponement will also raise a question over Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Shrewsbury Town.
