The first leg of the League Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Liverpool has been postponed, due to a severe outbreak of COVID-19 infections at Liverpool.
Liverpool requested to the English Football League it reschedule the game, because of the rise in COVID-19 cases at the club.
The Merseyside club temporarily closed its training ground due to a rapidly growing number of suspected COVID-19 infections at the club.
"The first leg of the Carabao [League] Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Liverpool scheduled for Thursday, January 6, 2022 has been postponed, following a formal request by Liverpool, due to a severe outbreak of COVID infections amongst their management and playing staff," says the EFL.
"The EFL has been in regular dialogue with the club over the past 48 hours in an attempt to understand whether the tie could proceed, but significant developments over this period have resulted in the club reporting an ever-increasing number of COVID cases."
As a result of the postponement, the order of the ties has been changed, with the first of the two legs now taking place at Anfield on January 13, while the rearranged game will be played as the second leg at the Emirates on January 20.
Liverpool players Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip returned positive tests on Monday, while manager Juergen Klopp tested positive at the weekend.
Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Curtis Jones were also forced into isolation last month, after positive tests.
The United Kingdom reported 218,724 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a new record for the number of cases reported on a single day in Britain.
Reuters
