LONDON: Unless the Premier League fixture list is further decimated by the COVID-19 wave that has shattered the pre-Christmas schedule, the triple title race will continue on Sunday with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all in action.
City, who lead the table by one point, travel to relegation fighters Newcastle United, while second-placed Liverpool visit Tottenham Hotspur, whose last two league games have been postponed due to infections.
Third-seeded Chelsea, which had to miss three players on Thursday due to COVID-19 in their 1-1 home draw with Everton, is first in the lead at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Whether all or some of the games will go ahead as planned, however, is questionable.
The league has ruled out a season ‘break’ to allow clubs to reinstate their rosters, although the rising Omicron variant has paid for half of the weekend’s games, including Manchester United’s home game with Brighton & Hove Albion .
Aston Villa, who have also reported infections, are still scheduled to host Burnley on Saturday, while Leeds United also face fourth-placed Arsenal in the late kick-off.
Despite the distractions and uncertainty, title rivals will be well aware that the season is entering a crucial phase and any missteps could now be extremely costly.
Not that champions City look the least bit nervous after scoring seven goals past Leeds United on Tuesday.
CURRENT SPECIES
If there is one side that can handle the current tensions, it is Pep Guardiola at City. With quality options in reserve, they will begin to accelerate at the right time after winning their last seven league matches.
Six players were on target in the 7-0 win against Leeds, Kevin de Bruyne struck twice, and Newcastle’s creaky defense will not enjoy the City visit on Sunday.
Liverpool kept up the pressure at the top as they scored on Thursday to beat Newcastle 3-1, despite Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones missing due to positive COVID tests on match day.
Jurgen Klopp said he “hoped” Tottenham’s game would go ahead, but that he didn’t sound too optimistic.
“It’s a really difficult situation. Nobody knows exactly how we will be tomorrow,” the German said on Thursday.
“I’ve never seen three players drop out on a match day. Most importantly, the guys are vaccinated and they won’t really feel it. Which is good. We have to wait for them.
“Should we stop the competition? I don’t really have an answer for it. If you stop for two weeks and we come back, I really don’t know what to do anymore. There are many questions that we have to answer , but I don’t have the solution.”
Chelsea’s surprise home draw with Everton put them four points behind City and Thomas Tuchel’s side face an uphill task at Wolves, who are eighth after a midweek win over Brighton.
When asked whether the title race should be postponed while the protagonists deal with COVID infections, Tuchel said he did not want to get involved in sports politics.
“We are all concerned about COVID, it is close to us, we had four positives. Other games will be cancelled, ours will not. If they decide we should play, we play,” he told reporters.
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