Agency :
Covid-19 cases and injuries at Everton forced the Premier League to accept the club’s request for a postponement and called of their Boxing Day fixture away at Burnley, the league said on Friday.
It is the 13th Premier League game to be called off due to Covid-19 and third Boxing Day fixture to be postponed after Liverpool v Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford were called off on Thursday due to cases in the visiting teams.
Everton manager Rafa Benitez said on Thursday that his club had a request to postpone Sunday’s match rejected by the Premier League, adding it was unfair as he had six injuries and five players down with Covid-19.
“The Board reviewed the club’s request today to postpone the match following further injuries to their squad,” the Premier League said in a statement.
“They concluded that the club will not be able to fulfil their fixture this weekend as a result of an insufficient number of players available to play due to Covid-19 cases and injuries.”
The Premier League only grants a postponement if a club has fewer than 14 players — 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper — available, with the board examining requests on a case-by-case basis.
Both clubs have already had matches postponed this month with Burnley now staring at a fixture pile-up with four games in hand after Boxing Day.
