Man City cleared to face Chelsea amid COVID-19 concerns
Manchester City kick off the New Year at Chelsea on Sunday, eager to move on from a recent COVID-19 outbreak and get back to putting pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool.
The match, cast into question when COVID-19 forced City to close facilities and postpone Monday’s game at Everton, is set to go ahead after the visitors returned to training on Wednesday.
Surging infections in London and the postponement on Wednesday of Tottenham Hotspur’s match at Fulham, Chelsea’s West London neighbours, raised doubts, but the Premier League is confident fixtures can go ahead.
“Safety remains our number one priority, and the club will continue to proceed with great caution,” City said in a statement.
“The bubble will undergo further testing in the coming days, the results of which will inform and dictate the next steps.”
On the pitch, eighth-placed City will be chasing a third successive league win while Chelsea need to turn around a run of poor form that includes three defeats and a draw in their last five games.
“At the moment, they are a crisis club because they are underperforming,” former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton told BBC radio after the West Londoners drew 1-1 with Aston Villa and slipped to sixth.
“They are flat and that’s why (manager) Frank (Lampard) needs to get a few wins under his belt and extremely quickly because it can, as we know, turn ugly at Chelsea.”
Champions Liverpool, on 33 points from 16 matches, drew 0-0 with Newcastle United on Wednesday and travel to Southampton on Monday.
The points difference between City and Liverpool is seven points but City have two games in hand.
Manchester United, second in the standings and on a nine- match unbeaten streak, host fifth-placed Aston Villa on Friday evening. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side is three points behind Liverpool.
Leeds United, fresh from a 5-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, travel to Tottenham Hotspur for Saturday’s lunchtime kickoff, while high-flying Leicester City are at Newcastle United on Sunday.
Everton host West Ham United on Friday and Arsenal play at West Brom on Saturday.
Sheffield United, with two points from 16 Premier League games, travel to Crystal Palace, who are on a five-game winless run, on Saturday.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
NationWide
Speaker Abbas hails Shettima’s re-nomination as Tinubu’s running mate in 2027
Mr Tajudeen said the vice president had remained dependable since assuming office.
NationWide
Harmonisation reforms will promote pension equity, restore confidence: PTAD
PTAD manages pensions under the old Federal Government pension arrangement.
NationWide
Mixed reactions trail FG’s N50,000 approval for WAEC, NECO exam fee
Ms Ogunkoya urged the government to balance cost recovery with citizens’ access to essential public services.
Hot news Home top
Man arrested for allegedly beating wife to death over food in Nasarawa
The police spokesman added that the suspect expressed remorse over the incident.
Heading 5
Seven die in Bauchi-Maiduguri road crash
The police spokesperson said an investigation had commenced to determine the immediate and remote causes of the accident.
World
FBI offers $50,000 reward for information on fugitive wanted for violent crimes
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Mr Singh in the United States District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles, California on July 1.
