Jurgen Klopp has suggested that stopping the Premier League is ‘probably not the right thing to do’ even though he confirmed that three of his first-team squad have tested positive for coronavirus.
His side were unable to call on Virgil van Dijk, Curtis Jones and Fabinho due to the trio testing positive following their lateral flow tests on Thursday, prior to the victory over Newcastle United.
“Stopping the league is probably not the right thing but with the schedule, we have to be more flexible,” the former Mainz boss said (via BBC Sport).
“So far football kept it pretty much outside with the testing regimes, the massive disciplinary things for the boys did really well, but this time it is really difficult.”
“It is pretty unlikely that once you have it, that it stays with three players – maybe [it spreads to] another three or four, then you have 13 players available to play on the 26th and 28th and that is impossible,” he told BBC Match of the Day.
The Reds are set to travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, who have seen their last two games postponed as a result of the virus.
So far, the Premier League have confirmed that five of this weekend’s fixtures have been postponed which has led to suggestions that the entire league may be suspended to allow teams time to recover and act as a ‘circuit breaker’.
It does seem strange that some games are being called off yet others, even with confirmed cases, are still going ahead.
You can watch Klopp speak about the three positive cases within his squad below via our Twitter page:
🗣️"We pretty much woke up this morning and had three positive cases."
Jurgen Klopp on the rise in COVID-19 cases 😷 #LFC pic.twitter.com/l2PaQyXzhg
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) December 16, 2021