Coronavirus forces postponement of Arsenal vs Liverpool

Liverpool's coronavirus outbreak has led to the postponement of Thursday's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal.

Both Reds coach Jurgen Klopp and assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders are isolating, with a number of key first-team players also unavailable due to positive Covid-19 tests.

The Anfield club closed their first-team training facility on Wednesday morning and cancelled their scheduled pre-match news conference.

The tie will now take place on Thursday, January 20, with the original second-leg encounter on January 13 now scheduled as the first leg.

An EFL statement read: "The EFL has been in regular dialogue with Liverpool over the past 48 hours in an attempt to understand whether the tie could proceed.

"But significant developments over this period have resulted in the club reporting an ever-increasing number of Covid-19 cases.

"Having now fully reviewed the circumstances involved, the league has accepted Liverpool’s request after determining, albeit reluctantly, that a postponement was the only option as the club looks to mitigate against the further risk of infection among its squad and staff."

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