Soccer-Villa v Everton postponed due to COVID-19 concerns

Aston Villa's home match against Everton on Sunday has been postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Midlands club, the Premier League said on Thursday. Villa's entire first-team squad and support staff have been in isolation since last week after 14 positive cases of coronavirus were reported at the club.

Aston Villa's home match against Everton on Sunday has been postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Midlands club, the Premier League said on Thursday.

Villa's entire first-team squad and support staff have been in isolation since last week after 14 positive cases of coronavirus were reported at the club. Dean Smith's side were due to visit Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday but the game was pushed back to later in the season, with Fulham stepping in to fill the gap in the fixture list.

"Following the rescheduling of Villa's fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, which was due to be played last night, a significant number of players and staff remain in isolation," the league said in a statement. "As a result, the Premier League Board has agreed to Aston Villa's request to postpone their match on Sunday."

Villa said that members of the first-team squad and staff who are healthy were expected to resume training on Sunday when they finish their period of isolation. Newcastle United's postponed game at Villa has been rescheduled for Jan. 23. The fixture, which was due to take place at Villa Park on Dec. 4, was called off due to a COVID-19 outbreak at Newcastle's training centre.

Fulham's trip to Brighton & Hove Albion has been pushed back a day to Jan. 27 with Crystal Palace's home game with West Ham United correspondingly brought forward a day to Jan. 26. The league said this is to avoid teams having to play a league match within two days of their FA Cup fourth round ties, which are due to be played over the weekend of Jan. 23-24.

Fulham have been drawn to host Burnley in the Cup, while Brighton welcome Blackpool.

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