Premier League faces calls to postpone weekend fixtures over Covid rise

Half the games have already been postponed as players test positive

CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 6 A quiet first half, though he did claim Gordon’s shot before the break. Was unable to keep a clean sheet when Branthwaite poked in a set piece. Getty

Reece James – 8 The 22-year-old came close to netting his sixth of the season when Jorginho’s ball put him through on goal, but he was unable to find the target. He later forced Pickford into a comfortable save from a free-kick, before slipping a great ball to play in Mount for Chelsea’s opener. Getty

Cesar Azpilicueta – 6 A quiet night at the back, he ventured forward and raced onto a loose ball in the box but couldn’t keep his effort low enough to avoid blazing it into the crowd. AP

Thiago Silva – 7 The 37-year-old dominated and controlled everything in the first half, with an incredible 82 passes by half-time. Forced a great save from Pickford from a corner. Reuters

Antonio Rudiger – 7 Calm in defence, he slipped through some great balls to open Everton and keep Chelsea on the front foot. Forced Pickford to make back-to-back saves as he looked for Chelsea’s second. Reuters

Marcos Alonso – 6 Continued his run in the side with Chilwell out for the foreseeable future, and though he was quiet for much of the game he could have added an assist after finding Mount in the box. Getty

Jorginho – 7 Provided a delightful ball to James in the opening exchanges and could have later scored himself with a rebounded shot from a free-kick. Booked. EPA

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 6 Unconvincing performance. Lost the ball and got himself booked after committing a foul while chasing Doucoure to stop an Everton attack. Headed over a corner just after the break. EPA

Mason Mount – 8 A menace who kept Pickford busy all evening. The in-form midfielder saw one shot go narrowly wide in the early stages, before forcing the Everton keeper into another save at the half-hour mark. Made no mistake in the second half, however, scoring in his fourth consecutive match. EPA

Hakim Ziyech – 7 Returned to the starting line-up and was extremely lively. He had an opportunity to score from a tight angle but his effort went wide, before a neat one-two with Pulisic ended in the Moroccan going narrowly wide. EPA

Christian Pulisic – 7 With Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner testing positive for Covid-19, Pulisic looked unnerved by the pressure of leading the line. He could have netted his third goal of the season early on but his backheel couldn’t trouble Pickford in goal. Lively at the top with his pressing. AP

SUBS: Ross Barkley (Loftus-Cheek 64’) – N/R A mixed reception as he made an appearance against his former side. EPA

Saul Niguez (Alonso 64’) – N/R Wasteful with a cross back into the box as Chelsea looked for a winning goal. Getty

Trevoh Chalobah (Azpilicueta 79’) – N/R Good work to distract Dobbin whose shot just rolled into Mendy’s hands. Solid shielding the ball from Gordon. Getty

EVERTON RATINGS: Jordan Pickford – 9 Produced a big save to deny James, while punching away Ziyech’s effort and claiming Pulisic’s backheel flick. Got low for another Mount effort at goal, before another great block with his feet denied his fellow England teammate. Forced into back-to-back saves as both Silva and Rudiger threatened with headers from corners. EPA

Jonjoe Kenny – 6 Made his first Premier League start of the season in a back five for the Toffees and couldn’t get the better of Ziyech on the flank. Reuters

Michael Keane – 7 The senior head in a young backline quietly got on with his job. He did extremely well to hold off Pulisic and retain possession after the Chelsea man had trapped him into a corner. AP

Mason Holgate – 6 The 25-year-old made his 100th Premier League appearance and was booked early on for a tackle on Ziyech. Massive interception in the 25th minute as Pulisic looked to tap in a low cross in front of goal. Another good block after half-time to stop Ziyech. Reuters

Jarrad Branthwaite – 7 Made his first Premier League appearance since July 2020 and looked confident despite the opposition, dispossessing Mount in the process. Poked in Gordon’s free-kick to toe-poke an equaliser for Everton. Getty

Ben Godfrey – 6 Continued at left-back with Rafa Benitez low on options but got forward well during Everton attacks. Was unable to contain Mount on that wing for large parts. AP

Abdoulaye Doucoure – 6 Wasted an opportunity in a rare moment of attack for Everton, which saw the Toffees dispossessed and Chelsea score on the counter. Getty

Andre Gomes – 6 The 28-year-old had a shot blocked early on as the Toffees hoped to put Chelsea on the backfoot in a rare Everton attack. Booked. Getty

Alex Iwobi – 6 Didn’t see a lot of the ball in the first half but did well closing down and pressuring Chelsea, albeit the Blues were largely unaffected. Perhaps needed better decision-making, especially as Everton broke on the counter. Reuters

Ellis Simms – 6 Made his Premier League debut for the club with Benitez unable to name a full-strength squad, but was largely chasing loose ends and countered by the experience of Rudiger and Silva. Getty

Anthony Gordon – 8 Lively and a crucial part in any attacking effort by Everton. Supplied the free-kick for the equaliser. EPA

SUBS: ALewis Dobbin (Simms 61’) – 6, Provided some respite for Simms. Had to hold up play and did well to slow down the game. Booked. EPA

Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Gomes 71’) – N/R, A very quiet cameo from the bench. EPA

Tyler Onyango (Gordon 90’) – N/R, The 18-year-old made a cameo from the bench as Everton looked to close out the draw. Reuters

The Premier League is under increasing pressure to suspend this weekend’s entire schedule following a raft of coronavirus-enforced postponements.

Five of the 10 scheduled matches across Saturday and Sunday have already been called off, taking the total number of postponed top-flight fixtures this week to nine.

The English Football League has also been badly hit by the latest wave of infections across the country, with 14 games affected across its three divisions.

Even the games that were played on Thursday were disrupted. Liverpool were without Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk and Curtis Jones for their win over Newcastle following positive tests for Covid-19, while Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz missed Chelsea’s draw with Everton either through confirmed cases or while awaiting test results.

"The most important thing anyone — including footballers — can do to protect themselves, co-workers and loved ones is to get vaccinated and get a booster," Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said.

"I know the football authorities are also working with players to understand why some are vaccine hesitant."

Brentford manager Thomas Frank, whose side have had matches with Manchester United and Southampton postponed, led the calls for the top flight to be suspended.

Frank said: “We think we should postpone the full round of Premier League games this weekend.

“Covid cases are going through the roof at all Premier League clubs, everyone is dealing with it and having problems.”

He was backed by Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who said: “I don’t think we want half the games played and half not played.

“I think a decision needs to be made for the benefit of the league to make sure there is integrity through the competition.”

Everton manager Rafael Benitez said: “The reality is we have a lot of cases in the Premier League now, so they have to think how to stop that. If not, it could be even worse later on.”

The Premier League has been dealing with requests for postponements on a case-by-case basis and that remains the policy.

At present, only the games at Aston Villa, Leeds, Wolves, Newcastle and Spurs are due to go ahead this weekend.

A statement from the league said its board will “assess a number of factors” in determining whether a fixture can be played. This includes “the ability of a club to field a team; the status, severity and potential impact of the Covid-19 outbreak at the club; and the ability of the players to safely prepare for and play the match”.

Emergency measures, including more frequent testing, wearing face coverings while indoors, observing social distancing, and limiting treatment time, were reintroduced by the league this week.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp used his programme notes on Thursday to urge players to get jabbed.

He wrote: “I won’t apologise for the view I hold on the vaccination, no matter how unpopular it might make me in certain sections of society. I’m the same privately as I am publicly on this.

“If I come across friends or people I care about in my life away from football and they tell me they haven’t had a jab yet, I do my best to encourage them to listen to experts.

“Ignore those who pretend to know. Ignore lies and misinformation. Listen to people who know best. If you do that, you end up wanting the vaccine and the booster.”