Tottenham v Crystal Palace: Boxing Day clash due to go ahead despite Covid cases

Crystal Palace’s match against Tottenham will go ahead, despite at least eight Covid cases amongst the Eagles.

Patrick Vieira and his team have gone into camp to try and prepare for the game against Spurs this afternoon, despite the club requesting for a postponement due to increasing Covid issues.

The Boxing Day fixture, which is a prime game for television, was in doubt when the news filtered through that four players and four staff members had tested positive.

But the Premier League has stood its ground and turned down the postponement, with the new rules requiring that a game will only be called off if a team can not name 13 players and a goalkeeper.

Crystal Palace have now confirmed that the 3pm kick off will go ahead as planned.

The Eagles’ preparation for the game has been hugely disrupted, with players unable to go into camp a night before the game, after two extra players, one who was signed from the Championship this season and another who was injured and missed the Euros, tested positive.

Those two cases added to other Covid positives that involved a striker and a midfielder, who has been injured and is working his way back to full fitness.

Palace had informed the Premier League of the increasing number of cases, that had also touched their kitchen staff and some support staff, but the Premier League haven’t been entirely sold on the idea to postpone the game.

The players have been informed to head to their regular hotel, where they will be tested, and in the absence of new cases the fixture will go ahead.

There will be little time for video analysis, and contact between players will be limited to try and reduce the risk of spread of the Omicron variant, which is proving to be ultra transmissible.

On Friday, Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira was hesitantly optimistic that the game would be going ahead as planned, even though he hinted their numbers were growing.

He said: “We hope that we can be OK, but if you look at what is happening around us then you begin to have worries.

“We have had a couple of cases in out football club and we have tried our best to keep it under control.

“But with the evolution for the next couple of days we don’t know how it will go.

“I’m not worried about the welfare about the games during this period, because its been like that for years, I’m worried about their welfare regarding Covid.

“With what is happening around at the moment, I hope that we are able to put up a team that will be able to go to Tottenham and play.”