The 22nd round of the English league was supposed to close tomorrow (Sunday) with three games, but another game – the second in number – was postponed. The unusual absence of the missing in Arsenal, which includes injured players, players who are with their teams in the African Championship and of course – positive for Corona, eventually led to the approval of the Gunners’ request, and the derby against Tottenham was postponed to a later date. Arsenal have less than 12 players left for the derby after last night’s training revealed that not all the injured were able to train.
An official Premier League statement read: “Given that Arsenal are left with a lower number of players than is required for a league game (13 fielders and a goalkeeper), I am sadly forced to postpone the game between them and Tottenham.” At the center of the two games that will take place, Liverpool’s third hope is to return to the winning track in the league when it hosts Brentford. In the second game, West Ham will host Leeds five days after knocking them out of the cup.
Liverpool – Brentford (16:00, Sport1)
Jürgen Klopp’s team has been squeaking a bit lately, with or without the missing striker forced on the team due to various injuries and of course due to a number of verified Corona. The Mighty Reds with just 2 points out of the last nine, when in the League Cup semi-final Liverpool had a hard time against ten Arsenal players (starting in the 24th minute and finishing in a disappointing 0-0 home draw with the Gunners. Now, the hosts want to get back on the winning track ‘Star City, with Liverpool missing two games from Pep’s side.
Nabi Keita, Sadio Mana and Muhammad Salah who are in the African Championship will of course not be available to Klopp, in addition to four injured. On the other hand, the guest who has lost in three of the last four rounds will hope to surprise, as she too will be missing four players due to various injuries and also Frank Onyka, who is with Nigeria at the African Championships.
West Ham – Leeds (16:00, Sport 2)
The Hammers have been in very good shape lately, and they are counting four straight wins in all competitions. The two teams met six days ago in the same stadium as part of the third round of the English Cup, when then the Londoners came out with their hand on the top when they won 0: 2 and advanced to the next stage at the expense of their opponent. The relegation from the Cup came for Leeds after they managed to break a three-loss streak in the league, and they now hope to both reward West Ham for the relegation, and also slightly improve their dilapidated situation at the bottom.
On Tuesday, there will be two games in the Premier League:
Burnley – Watford (21:30, 17th round rematch)
Brighton – Chelsea (22:00, game from the 24th round)