Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal on Thursday has been rescheduled after the EFL accepted an appeal from the Merseyside club after further cases of Covid in their squad.
Liverpool declared earlier on Wednesday their training ground would be shut for at least 48 hours and that Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp’s assistant had resulted positive. Lijnders was about to take the team as Klopp himself is also isolating.
An appeal for deferment was submitted on Tuesday following the recent round of testing found more cases within the first-team bubble.
Klopp and three players – Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip – were made to miss Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea after resulting positive for COVID-19.
An EFL statement on Wednesday vouched the rearranged fixture will now be played in two-weeks on Thursday January 20th and will be treated as the second leg semi-final.
As a result of the rescheduled Carabao Cup semi-final dates, Arsenal’s Premier League game at home against Burnley will now take place on Sunday January 23th.
“The EFL has been in regular dialogue with the club over the past 48 hours in an attempt to understand whether the tie could proceed but significant developments over this period have resulted in the club reporting an ever-increasing number of COVID cases,” a statement mentioned.
“Having now fully reviewed the circumstances involved, the League has accepted Liverpool’s request after determining, albeit reluctantly, that a postponement was the only option as the club looks to mitigate against the further risk of infection amongst its squad and staff alongside ensuring public health was protected by not travelling from Liverpool to London.”
“As a result of the postponement the order of the ties has now changed with the first of the two legs to take place at Anfield on 13th January 2022 at 7.45pm. The rearranged game (now the 2nd leg) is scheduled to be played at the Emirates on 20 January 2022 at 7.45pm.”
