Covid and money. That the two biggest fears of the Premier League. And now, one is threatening the other, causing the nightmare for the executives of the world’s strongest league. More and more Covid cases are revealed, more teams are asking for reschedule, and the league seems to allow that only to ‘bigger’ clubs (Manchester United, Tottenham), while the others have been rejected. And now, with serous money from the TV rights involved, even the ‘bigger’ ones are being sacrificed for the profit. Thursday’s night game between Leicester and Tottenham is being broadcasted live on BT Sport, one of the Premier League’s broadcasters in the UK, along with Sky and Amazon, who jointly pay billions to show the matches.”When we needed support with the extreme situation we were in, we weren’t able to get that.”Brendan Rodgers was disappointed the Premier League refused #LCFC’s request to postpone their game vs #THFC — they have nine first team players out due to injury, Covid and illness. pic.twitter.com/guRruMskYj— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 15, 2021 Both clubs asked for postponement of the game, but were rejected. Leicester are Covid-plagued, while healthy players have been injured since they had to play too many games in a row, while Spurs wanted to play their rescheduled match with Rennes in the Conference League, but both were denied. Manchester United’s fixture at Brentford on Tuesday was called off thanks to an outbreak among the visitors’ squad, and Tottenham’s match with Brighton last weekend went the same way, and then Burnley against Watford has been canceled just two and a half hours before the kick-off.Youth will save the world – and it’s already saved Arteta: The Gunners gun down West HamCity have seven players unavailable through Covid or illness, and they now have Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu sidelined with injury, Rodgers saying the duo have picked up hamstring issues because he did not have the players available to rotate them. However, the Premier League have insisted Leicester have enough players to go ahead with the game. And Leicester boss is sure that expensive TV contracts are the main reason the Premier League is reluctant to act and call off the games or reschedule the calendar. He also thinks that ‘bigger’ clubs are favored by the league, as Spurs had their game with Burnley rescheduled and are in advance over Leicester tonight.“I think it’s a great angle to take. I think you are on the right lines. The Premier League feels we have enough players available. I’d be pretty guaranteed that games that have been off before wouldn’t have had the same impact in terms of availability as we’ve had. In terms of players, managers and coaches, we all want to play the games. But ultimately the health of a player is the priority. If you have players available, you get a better product. The risk of injury as well, that was in our thinking. Some of the players we feel we have to change, we can’t do that, purely because of unavailability of other players. So that was the chance for us to at least get the Premier League to have a look at it but our request was rejected and it’s disappointing. It would be nice to have that clarity to ensure it’s a fair competition for everyone” said Rodgers.Infections here, infections there, infections everywhereAnd Graham Potter from Brighton, who were also denied their request for postponement of the Wolves game (lost 1-0) thinks that the Premier League won’t be able to continue with this random rescheduling.“We asked the question because of our situation. You haven’t really got time to be disappointed with being turned down. It was about preparing the team, preparing for the game. It would be better if it was more transparent but at the same time you’re talking about medical information so I don’t know how transparent that can be. I think the path we’re on, I’m not sure how long we can stay on it for. We all want football to continue, want life to continue as best as we can but clearly health is the most important thing. If that carries on then we’ll have to have some serious thought about action being suspended” said Potter.PREMIER LEAGUE – Round 17TuesdayNorwich – Aston Villa 0- (0-1)/Ramsey 34, Watkins 87/Man.City – Leeds 7-0 (3-0)/Foden 8, Grealish 13, De Bruyne 32, 62, Mahrez 49, Stones 74, Ake 78/WednesdayCrystal Palace – Southampton 2-2 (1-2)/Zaha 2, Ayew 65 – Ward-Prowse 32, Broja 36/Brighton and Hove Albion – Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 (0-1)/Saiss 45+1/Arsenal – West Ham United 2-0 (0-0)/Martinelli 48, Smith Rowe 87/Thursday22.30: (2.25) Leicester (3.50) Tottenham (3.35)22.45: (1.30) Chelsea (5.80) Everton (12.0)23.00: (1.15) Liverpool (10.0) Newcastle (18.0)***odds are subjecto to change
