Thursday, 7 January, 2021 - 15:30 Asharq Al-Awsat
Aston Villa reported a “significant coronavirus outbreak and closed its training ground on Thursday, a day before a scheduled FA Cup home game against Liverpool.
The Premier League club canceled first-team training ahead of the match.
“Discussions are ongoing between medical representatives of the club, the Football Association and the Premier League,” Aston Villa said in a statement.
The club said “a large number” of players and staff returned positive tests following routine testing on Monday, and they “immediately went into isolation.”
“A second round of testing was carried out immediately and produced more positive results today,” the club said Thursday.
Aston Villa reports significant virus outbreak Follow Us
Question of the Day By - Associated Press - Thursday, January 7, 2021
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) - Aston Villa reported a “significant” coronavirus outbreak and closed its training ground on Thursday, putting in jeopardy its scheduled FA Cup home game against Liverpool.
The Premier League club canceled first-team training ahead of Friday’s match. Villa is also scheduled to host Tottenham in a league game next Wednesday.
“The Football Association and Aston Villa are working closely together to try to ensure that the club’s third round proper fixture with Liverpool can go ahead as planned at Villa Park tomorrow evening,” the club said Thursday evening.
Five reasons why Man City will win the Premier League
Date published: Thursday 7th January 2021 3:41 - Will Ford
Liverpool will probably win the Premier League, but
Spurs are still well up there and
Chelsea somehow remain just seven points off the top. We may well have to make claims on behalf of Leicester, Everton and Southampton in the coming weeks (this season?!) but for now we’ll look at Man City, who looked
particularly menacing against Chelsea on Sunday. Here are five reasons Pep Guardiola’s side can win the Premier League this season.
Been there, done it
Excluding players that aren’t really playing now (like Phil Jones) and players that weren’t really playing when their teams won the title (like Paul Pogba), only four players from the squads at United, Spurs and Chelsea have played in a Premier League title-winning team: David de Gea, Nemanja Matic, Cesar Azpilicueta and N’Golo Kante.
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In the space of four days, Manchester City have silenced a lot of critics. A ruthless display at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League was followed by a shock defeat for leaders Liverpool, meaning City can move above the champions by winning both of their games in hand.
1:58 Highlights of the Carabao Cup semi-final tie between Manchester United and Manchester City
What encouraged the third element - the apparent motivation refresh - is not immediately clear. Sometimes that can happen, You don t know what s going to spark a season and sometimes it can be when you re at your lowest moment, and players are out, and you think it s going to be the most difficult, people just stand up.
Guardiola s systems and the talent of the players applying his plans during what Neville calls two top performances can be more easily seen.
Coping without Jesus and Aguero
Guardiola was forced to get creative when coronavirus in the camp meant he was without five first-team players. The outbreak had forced their fixture with Everton to be postponed and left Gabriel Jesus unavailable. With fellow striker Sergio Aguero still easing his way back to fitness, team selection was not straightforward.