Burnley’s game against Watford on Tuesday night has become the latest game to be postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
Following the postponement of Arsenal’s North London derby clash at Tottenham on the weekend, the Clarets have had a request to call off the game at Turf Moor accepted by the Premier League.
A Burnley statement on Monday night read: “The Premier League Board accepted Burnley’s application with the club having fewer than the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), due to ongoing Covid-19 cases, injuries, and representation at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“This follows Burnley’s home game against Leicester City on Saturday being called off.
“The Premier League fixture between Burnley and Watford at Turf Moor will now be arranged for a future date, with all previously purchased tickets for the game to remain valid.
“The club sends their apologies to both sets of supporters for the inconvenience this may have caused and a new date for the fixture will be confirmed in due course.”
The match was originally due to be played on December 15 and was called off hours before kick-off due to a Covid outbreak in the Hornets’ squad.
Both the league and Arsenal were criticised for taking AFCON absentees into account when postponing Sunday’s derby, with Burnley also citing the tournament as a factor in this announcement. Maxwel Cornet is currently in Cameroon with Ivory Coast.
Sean Dyche stated on Monday that only ten first-team players were available for the match.
With only 17 games played, Burnley sit bottom of the table and are set for a hectic few months to catch up as many as five games held in deficit to some other teams in the division.
