Exclusive: Aston Villa request to postpone Sunday's Premier League match against Everton

[ASFN Admin]

Aston Villa have requested a postponement of their Premier League match against Everton on Sunday, with a decision likely to be made in the next 24 hours. The Premier League are due to hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss Villa’s plea to cancel their second match in a row after a severe outbreak of Covid-19 at the club’s training ground. Nine of Villa’s players and five members of staff tested positive last week for coronavirus and it is understood that the Midlands club fear they may not be permitted to enter their Bodymoor Heath base until Saturday at the earliest. Villa are scheduled to play Everton at midday on Sunday, giving Dean Smith and his squad barely 24 hours to prepare for a top-flight game. The club had no option but to play their academy players in last Friday’s FA Cup match against Liverpool but the Premier League are judging games in their competition on a case-by-case basis. Villa’s match against Tottenham, originally scheduled for Wednesday night, has already been postponed and the club believe it will be unfair to play Everton this weekend with so little preparation. Smith and his squad have been self-isolating following the outbreak last week and the players have not trained since. The Premier League may insist that Villa fulfil the fixture, after a number of postponements across the clubs already this season, but the club’s hierarchy believe they are extraordinary circumstances. A decision on whether the game goes ahead is expected in the next few days. Trezeguet, the Egypt international, has revealed he was one of the nine players who tested positive last week.

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