Liverpool have attracted further controversy after it was unearthed that the club petitioned the EFL to postpone the first leg of their Carabao Cup tie with Arsenal prior to getting results from COVID-19 tests.
This comes from Simon Hughes at The Athletic, with it being confirmed that the Merseysiders completed an additional batch of testing despite a first round producing negative lateral flow tests.
The meeting with the Gunners was later moved to 13th January, with the Reds sacrificing home advantage as a result.
Ultimately, whilst it would appear that we went to great lengths (beyond what was necessary) to build a case for a postponement, we’d find it difficult to accuse the club of foul play here.
Not least of all due to the fact that Jurgen Klopp would have been highly against a postponement unless it was absolutely necessary, and we can’t really fault the club for taking precautions given the current climate.
Of course, as Hughes rightly notes, it’s an update that will hardly reassure rivals in a period where suspicion is rife over the nature of testing and clubs’ motivations.
What infuriates me about this is the implication that the Club would back out of a fixture for fear of being uncompetitive. Instead, LFC should be praised for rightly forecasting the outbreak of Covid in the team ahead of time.