The Premier League match between Brentford and Manchester United has been postponed after a Covid outbreak at the Old Trafford club. The decision comes as England’s top flight reported a record number of coronavirus cases.
Brentford were due to host United in west London on Tuesday night but the Premier League confirmed that the match would be rescheduled “following guidance from medical advisers due to the exceptional circumstances.”
United announced on Monday that they were temporarily shutting down first-team operations at their Carrington training base after a spate of positive tests on Sunday, just hours after they had traveled to Norwich for a Premier League game.
“Given cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the Club requested the match [with Brentford] to be rearranged,” read a Manchester United statement.
“The Premier League Board took the decision to postpone based on guidance from medical advisors.”
A new date for the fixture will be announced “in due course,” the club added. The players and staff who have tested positive were not named.
Brentford, who are in their maiden season in the Premier League, apologized for the disruption to fans but said they “respect” the decision.
The postponement comes amid a record number of Covid cases in the Premier League in a one-week period.
Forty-two Premier League players and staff have tested positive for the virus in the past week – the highest number since testing began in May 2020.
Aside from United and Tottenham, other clubs to confirm cases in recent days are Leicester, Aston Villa, Norwich and Brighton.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson rolls out new restrictions across England to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus, there are fears football could face significant disruption as it approaches a traditionally busy festive period.
The glamorous wife of Manchester United and Sweden defender Victor Lindelof has revealed her fears and issued an update after he was forced out of his side’s win on Saturday because of chest pains and breathing difficulties.
Self-described influencer and designer Maja Lindelof, who has two children with the United star, watched on as the 27-year-old became the latest player to suffer a suspected heart problem.
Lindelof held his hand to his chest to indicate his discomfort with 15 minutes to go of United’s 1-0 win at Norwich in the Premier League.
“It was a scary match to watch and Victor was very [worried] afterwards,” said Lindelof, who married the former Benfica player in Sweden in 2018, via translation on her blog.
“Yesterday [Sunday] he did a lot of tests and he has had a heart monitor on for two days to make sure everything is OK.
“[It was] incredibly uncomfortable, especially when I could not get hold of him… it was a long [wait] before I got hold of someone on the team who updated me.
“Everything seems to be OK, as luck would have it, and we are waiting for answers to the final tests that will end tomorrow.”
New United boss Ralf Rangnick revealed after the game that Lindelof had been “struggling to breathe”.
The scare is the latest in a series of high-profile incidents including Christian Eriksen’s ordeal at Euro 2020 in the summer and an issue for Sergio Aguero that is expected to cause the Premier League legend to announce his premature retirement this week.
“He can’t remember how it happened but he had a collision with another player,” said Rangnick, adding that Lindelof’s heart rate had been abnormally high. “After the game, we checked him.”
Lindelof’s partner said that the family had spent the day at home resting on Sunday.
“The plan was to bake [for] Christmas with friends but we had to bake ourselves instead,” she said, calling the day “very cozy”.
The fashion fan invites fans to “follow her fast-paced life” on her blog, which she says consists of everything from “macaroni and falu sausage [to] festive galas and design meetings.”
United’s Premier League match at Brentford on Tuesday has been postponed because of a Covid outbreak at the club.
Former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi has reportedly been the victim of a violent raid in which four thugs broke into his home and placed a belt around his neck while stealing cash and several valuable watches.
Benfica star Otamendi, who won two Premier League titles in a five-year stint with City, is said to be “doing well” after the attack, which happened early on Monday morning in his home south of Lisbon after he returned from his side’s Primeira Liga match against Famalicao on Sunday.
According to a report by Portuguese outlet Correio da Manha, the gang attacked the defender as he returned home and forced themselves through the front door while his wife and child were inside.
Further reports state that a belt was placed around his neck in order to restrain him and get him to reveal the location of valuables within his home.
CNN Portugal add that the thieves got away with cash and other valuables, and that the Portuguese Judiciary Police have launched an investigation into the robbery – with a private security firm hired to guard the footballer’s home from any further attacks.
Initial reporting also suggests that as many as seven men could have been involved, with suggestions that those responsible are from Eastern Europe.
It has also been claimed that the robbery was conducted like a ‘military raid‘, and that the thieves were wore gloves and balaclavas and communicated with one another by using walkie-talkies.
Police are also investigating a possible lead that the gang might also be responsible for various other robberies of professional footballers.
There have been similar incidents involving Porto midfielder Otavio as well as Celta de Vigo striker Iago Aspas, who lives just over Portugal’s northern border.
A statement from his club confirmed that Otamendi “was the victim of a robbery at his home during the early hours”.
“The player and his family are doing well despite the enormous discomfort generated by the situation they are experiencing.
“Benfica asks that the privacy of the player and his family be respected by all the media, pending the completion of the investigations initiated by the authorities.”
The 87-cap Argentina international has made 55 appearances for Benfica since arriving in 2020 as part of the deal which took Portugal defender Ruben Dias to City.
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard says that a player’s vaccine status will “come into conversations” ahead of January’s transfer window after the Premier League recorded the highest number of weekly Covid-19 cases since May.
Liverpool icon Gerrard, who succeeded Dean Smith in the Villa hotseat in November, told the media on Monday that the club have begun discussions about potential transfer targets as he looks to bolster a squad still seemingly struggling after the £100 million ($132.4 million) record transfer of club captain Jack Grealish to Manchester City in August.
But according to Gerrard, there are several factors to consider when it comes to potential new additions to his squad – not least whether or not a potential signing has been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Two games (Brighton vs. Tottenham; Brentford vs. Man. United) have recently fallen off the packed December Premier League schedule after Covid outbreaks within the Spurs and United squads forced league chiefs to pull the plug on the games.
The Premier League has revealed that 42 cases of Covid-19 infection had been recorded from tests on 3,805 players and club staff between December 6 and December 12 – the highest number of positive tests since the figures were first released in May.
The alarming increase in figures comes as the Premier League instructed clubs to reinstate emergency measures such as the wearing of facemasks, social distancing and limiting medical treatment time in the wake of country-wide rises in Covid-19 cases.
Gerrard’s Villa team are among those to have been affected, with the former England international confirming two of his squad members have tested positive alongside two staff members.
“I think it's each to their own in terms of a decision – I'm certainly double vaxxed”
And in further comments, he detailed just how that might impact his club’s discussions about how they will spend their cash in January.
“I’ve been really impressed with [sporting director] Johan Lange and the guys around him in recruitment and scouting, in terms of the details and work I’ve seen so far. We look at everything. So I’m sure it will come up,” said Gerrard.
“But we’ll obviously make decisions as and when we decide a certain person is the one who could come in and make us better. We’ll go across it with a fine-toothed comb.
“But I don’t think it’s right for me to comment on if I would or wouldn’t in that situation. But it would certainly come into conversations in the background.”
Gerrard – who is double-vaccinated – was a notable advocate of the efficacy of vaccines during his spell with Scottish team Rangers, admitting to the media that he had been “pushing” his players to take their opportunities to receive a vaccine against Covid-19.
“We are pushing, we are asking all our players to go and get this done. But we certainly can’t force them because I think everyone is entitled to make their own decisions,” he said in October.
A report in the same month detailed that just 68 percent of Premier League players had been vaccinated against Covid-19.
There were shocking reported scenes at a top-flight Italian football match when a 23-year-old man had to be resuscitated after suffering a cardiac arrest – leading home manager Jose Mourinho to make him a promise.
The famous Stadio Olimpico in Rome is said to have fallen into silence as news of the fan’s predicament spread, with fans reportedly lowering their flags in solidarity while the stricken supporter was helped by medics using a defibrilator.
Some fans were so upset that they reportedly left the south curve area of the stadium, and the man suffered a second heart attack in the ambulance while he was being transported to hospital, according to Corriere della Sera via Forza Roma.
He is now said to be intubated and sedated in intensive care in the Gemelli Polyclinic, having undergone tests that reportedly ruled out ‘complications’.
In the first half an hour of the Roma-Spezia game, a 30-year-old fan suffered a cardiac arrest in the stands. He was resuscitated with a defibrillator and rushed to the Gemelli Hospital, report La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The incident is not the first of its kind in recent months. The Premier League match between Newcastle and Tottenham was halted in October while a doctor in the crowd attended to a medical emergency involving a fellow supporter who was later said to have been ‘stable and responsive’.
Mourinho, who guided Roma to a 2-0 win over Spezia in the match on Sunday, issued a message to the fan the following day.
“I only understood [what had happened] at the end,” the former Serie A champion is quoted as saying.
“Let’s hope everything goes well. In that case, if he gives me the address, I will send him the my jacket – so the next time he comes in this cold, he’ll have my jacket.”
The fan fell ill a day after Victor Lindelof was forced out of Manchester United’s win at Norwich because he felt discomfort in his chest and was struggling to breathe.
United boss Ralf Rangnick confirmed that the defender’s heart rate had been higher than normal when he withdrew him with 15 minutes remaining.
Lindelof’s wife, Maja, said on her blog on Tuesday that the Sweden international had recovered at home and was undergoing tests.
Premier League legend Sergio Aguero is arguably the most high-profile footballer to have been hit by suspected heart problems this season.
The Manchester City record scorer is expected to announce his premature retirement as a result of his problem on Wednesday.
