A decision has been made on Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 17 after the announcement that Bournemouth’s home fixture against Luton Town will be replayed in full after it was abandoned on Saturday.
The match was stopped after 59 minutes when Luton defender Tom Lockyer collapsed in the centre circle - in a frightening incident that came just months after something similar had happened to him during last season’s Championship play-off final.
A Luton statement later confirmed the defender was in a stable condition and on Sunday the club said that he was awaiting test and scan results to determine next steps.
The match was abandoned when the score was 1-1, but the Premier League has now confirmed it will be replayed in full later in the season following talks between both clubs.
For FPL players, it means any points picked up in the original fixture will be voided - including the goals scored by Luton’s Elijah Adebayo and Bournemouth’s in-form striker Dominic Solanke.
As a result, Gameweek 17 will now be closed. In the game, it will count as if Bournemouth and Luton did not play a fixture and any players in selected in team line-ups will be substituted if there are other players on the bench who did play.
A statement from Fantasy Premier League read: “Following the announcement Bournemouth vs Luton will be replayed in full at a later date, Gameweek 17 will now be closed and the game will update shortly. Points achieved by players in the original fixture will be voided. Normal auto-subs and vice-captain rules apply.”
An earlier Premier League update said: “The game will be rescheduled for later in the season, with a date to be confirmed following consultation with relevant parties.
“The decision to abandon the match in the 59th minute was made collectively between the match officials, players, managers from both clubs and the Premier League.
“The league would like to thank the medical staff and all those involved for their swift actions in responding to what was an extremely upsetting situation for everyone. We wish Tom a continued recovery and our thoughts are with him, his family and all those at Luton Town FC.”
At the time of Lockyer’s collapse, the score was 1-1. Luton had taken an early lead through Adebayo but in-form Bournemouth equalised on 58 minutes as Solanke found the net.
Solanke is one of the top-scorers in the Premier League this year but what was his 10th goal of the campaign will now obviously not be counted in his tally for the season.
The Premier League did not say when the match would be rescheduled but there are a few possible free midweeks where the match could slide in as neither Luton nor Bournemouth are involved in European competition this season.
The midweek of January 9-10 is currently free for both sides, as they won’t have a Carabao Cup semi-final to worry about, as is the January 16-17 midweek – providing neither team needs an FA Cup third-round replay. The January 23-24 midweek is also free, as are most midweeks in February or – if both sides crash out in the FA Cup third round – then the fourth-round weekend of January 27-28 would also be freed up, although we won’t know if that’s the case until they have played their third-round fixtures on the first weekend in January.
