Tottenham returns to training, but new COVID positives could threaten Leicester match

Tottenham Hotspur have returned to training at their training center after a three day shutdown due to multiple positive COVID-19 results last week. That has given the club some hope that the currently-scheduled Premier League match against Leicester City could go on as planned and not need to be postponed.

However, that optimism could be put to the test. According to Matt Law of the Telegraph (£), the club was hit today with yet another positive COVID test from another first team player, and there is a separate outbreak of positives within the U23 squad.

It is unclear what the figure is now at, but Telegraph Sport understands there has been a new case of a first-team player testing positive and there has been a large outbreak among the Under-23s.

Tottenham will be desperate to try to fulfil their trip to Leicester, given the club are already two games behind their rivals, following the postponement of the Burnley game because of bad weather as well as the Brighton postponement, and facing a pile-up of matches.

The Telegraph goes on to suggest that while Conte has had a few players return from prior isolation, he’s still missing a significant number of players and staff, and could have as few as 13 players to work with, “including two goalkeepers.”

Nobody likes the idea of postponing another match, but at this point it’s hard to see how it goes forward, especially if players remain in isolation and the virus continues to spread throughout the squad. Besides which, Leicester currently are dealing with a COVID outbreak within their own squad, and there have been reports of outbreaks at Manchester United and Aston Villa in recent days.

Should the Leicester match be called off, Spurs would have three games in hand compared to their competitors for top four, and it would become increasingly difficult to find replacement dates. But that’s likely going to be the case for many Premier League clubs as the Omicron variant continues to plow through England and elsewhere in the world. Nothing to do now but wait and see how it all shakes out.