Football News

Burnley v Watford postponed as Clarets struggle for numbers again

Burnley’s home Premier League game against Watford on Tuesday night has been postponed, the club have announced.

The Clarets said earlier on Monday they had reluctantly applied to get the game called off due to a high number of injuries and Covid-19 cases in the squad.

A club statement on Monday evening read: “Burnley Football Club can confirm the application has been approved by the Premier League to postpone Tuesday night’s game against Watford.”

Meanwhile, the Premier League has confirmed there were 33 new positive cases of Covid-19 among players and club staff in its latest round of testing.

The figures come from 13,625 tests administered between January 10 and 16.

It is the third successive week the number of positive results has decreased and is the lowest number of positives in a week since December 5.

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Meanwhile, Arsenal could sell Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace if they solve Sean Dyche’s quest to find a suitable Chris Wood replacement at Burnley, per multiple reports.

The Clarets sold leading frontman Chris Wood to relegation rivals Newcastle last week. The move was seen as a hammer-blow to Burnley’s chances of beating the drop after simultaneously weakening their position and strengthening a rival’s.

However, if Burnley can adequately replace the New Zealander, Sean Dyche will fancy his chances of staving off relegation.

One player who could fill the void is Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke.

The Daily Mail report the Belgian hitman has been ‘identified’ by Burnley as the man to take Wood’s place. What’s more, the article states Palace are seemingly willing to play ball after slapping a £12m price tag on the striker.

Benteke only signed a new deal at Selhurst Park last summer. However, he will enter the final year of his contract when the current season concludes. And at 31, his best days may well be behind him.

From the player’s end, Benteke is stated to be ‘settled’ in London and is thus reluctant to relocate to Burnley.

As such, the ex-Liverpool forward will take some convincing if Burnley do meet Palace’s £12m valuation.

Palace have Odsonne Edouard on the books as well as Mainz loanee Jean-Philippe Mateta. Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew can both deputise up top, though neither are out and out centre-forwards.

Benteke deal could signal Arsenal exit
As such, if Benteke is sold, Patrick Vieira could reignite his interest in Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah.

The 22-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has been heavily linked with the Eagles.

The Times claimed Palace had entered talks with Arsenal regarding the striker. However, on their first attempt, the discussions came to nothing.

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