The Premier League is still resisting calls to suspend the weekend programme despite matches between Southampton and Brentford, Watford and Crystal Palace, West Ham and Norwich, and Everton against Leicester all being called off.
The PL said said: ‘All other fixtures due to be played this weekend are currently scheduled to proceed as planned.’
The key word is currently and we have to assume that of the four games now off there were clubs who couldn’t field 14 fit players from their squad as per the PL rules.
As we understand it there are no positive cases at West Ham but it has become clear that some players across the League – up to 25 per cent reportedly – have chosen not to have the jab.
If that is the case we can expect more games to be called off as the new variant continues to surge which is the expectation of the experts.
In reality the match being called off against Norwich will help the likes of Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson more recovery time ahead if the games against Spurs next week, Southampton and Watford on Boxing Day and the 28th assuming they can be played.
But in the medium to long term – and dependent on government decisions after Christmas things could change very quickly.
