Three games into the new Premier League season, and a number of clubs have been affected by the coronavirus. Manchester City duo Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte both missed time after testing positive for the virus.
West Ham duo Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, as well as manager David Moyes, are currently in isolation after contracting covid-19.
Now, Liverpool are the latest squad to be hit. It was announced earlier this week that Thiago Alcantara had tested positive for the virus, while it later emerged that Sadio Mane had done the same.
Both players are now in a mandatory self-isolation period, but Liverpool's fixture against Aston Villa this weekend has not been affected.
In fact, it is highly unlikely that any Premier League fixtures will be called off this season due to players contracting coronavirus.
With the league intent on playing out their fixtures with as little disruption as possible, they have set out strict rules that means it is unlikely that any games will be called off.
According to Premier League rules, fixtures will go ahead as planned as long as teams have 14 players available for selection. That includes not only players in the first team squad, but also the professionals in their U21 squad.
This makes any postponements very unlikely, unless a huge amount of footballers at a given club contract the virus.
Should a club refuse to partake in a fixture, they could face strict punishment. Such cases will be judged by an independent panel, where sanctions such as fines and points deductions would be on the table.
Of course, the logic behind these rules can be debated. They do seem somewhat shortsighted from the Premier League.
A couple of positive tests is one thing, but if a club's squad is being ravaged by the virus, surely you would want even those who have tested negative not to mix with players from other clubs? After all, their teammates would be considered close contacts.
With the incubation period for the virus varying from person to person, this could be a dangerous situation. A player contracting the virus during a competitive fixture certainly would not be a good look for the Premier League decision makers.
See Also: Report: Xherdan Shaqiri Left Out Of Liverpool Squad Due To Transfer Interest
