LONDON – Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard will miss the team’s next two Premier League matches after testing positive for Covid-19, the English club said.
Gerrard, 41, who joined the club last month, will miss home game against Chelsea and Tuesday’s trip to Leeds United while isolating.
Former Liverpool and England captain Gerrard has led Villa to four wins in six league games since taking over as the manager after the club sacked Dean Smith.
Villa is 10th in the league on 22 points after 17 matches.
“Aston Villa can confirm Head Coach Steven Gerrard will be unable to attend our next two Premier League matches with Chelsea and Leeds United as he will be isolating after testing positive for Covid-19,” the club statement read according to Reuters.
Villa’s league game at home to Burnley last week was postponed about two hours before kickoff due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
A record 90 new Covid-19 cases were detected among Premier League players and staff in the past week, while 13 games have been postponed so far due to the virus.
Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira said that allowing five substitutions can help clubs manage player workload better given the busy fixture list and surge in Covid-19, but such a move would hand an advantage to the top teams.
Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick and his City counterpart Pep Guardiola have both urged the Premier League to increase the number of substitutions from three to five as a way to protect players.
“I think five subs regarding the period that we are in at the moment can be the right answer for us as a manager. But I don’t think that would be fair for the top five teams and the rest of us,” Vieira told reporters ahead of the clash away to Tottenham Hotspur.
“Any decision you make you always have people who are for and against. But for me, I don’t know if we should remain with the three substitutes.”
The Frenchman said that he wasn’t too concerned about the high number of games during festive period but added that it was tough on players coming back from Covid-19 to play without enough training.
“I’m not worried about the players’ welfare regarding the games in this period as it’s been like this for years. I am worried regarding Covid,” he said.
Vieira confirmed that Palace have reported “a couple of positive cases” in the last few days. Palace’s trip to Watford earlier this month was postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the home side.
“We hope we’re going to be okay (to face Spurs) but when you’re looking at the number of cases around we start to be worried,” said Vieira.
“I think (Spurs is) a really difficult place to go. The atmosphere, the players’ energy… so what is important for us is to play with courage, with confidence and belief.”
Palace is 11th in the league standings with 20 points from 17 games, six points adrift of six-placed Spurs.
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