This week will begin with a search for clarity from some Premier League clubs, with officials holding talks with all 20 members over the Covid-19 crisis that decimated the weekend programme and is ripping through squads at an alarming rate.
Today (Monday) should also see the latest number of positive tests in the league revealed, with a surge from the 42 recorded from December 6 to December 12 looking likely. That was the highest weekly number since testing began for Project Restart 18 months ago and given the number of games postponed this weekend it will surely rocket once again.
That could lead to more calls for a firebreak in the league — a measure some clubs support but the league doesn’t. The talks between all parties should produce a clearer path forward, at least, but we also need greater transparency after a week of Chinese whispers.
It’s certainly not clear what it takes for a postponement at the moment. Saturday brought Burnley’s trip to Aston Villa being called off just two hours before kick-off, but on Sunday Chelsea revealed they’d had a request to postpone their game at Wolves turned down.
The raft of postponements is making the table hard to read. Tottenham are now three games behind some clubs — despite playing on Sunday — and after two games in a week fell as a result of a Covid outbreak, Manchester United are a couple behind. The trip to Brentford and the Old Trafford clash with Brighton will need to be rearranged. United now find themselves five points off the top four, but with two games in hand.