Premier League reaction and build-up as Covid problems rise

1. Liverpool beat Newcastle to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City
2. Chelsea held at home by Everton
3. Five of the weekend's scheduled top-flight fixtures postponed because of rising Covid cases
4. Premier League news conferences on Friday: Arsenal (10:00), Liverpool (12:30), Wolves & Aston Villa (13:00)
5. Plus Man City, Tottenham and Chelsea at 13:30 (All times GMT)

Goodbye

That is us for today. Thanks for sticking with us.

Here are a few stories and bits of content to keep you going:

• Premier League clubs to meet on Monday as Covid impacts fixtures
• Eriksen and Inter Milan agree to terminate contract
• Everton interested in Dynamo Kyiv full-back Vitaliy Mykolenko
• BBC to broadcast three live WSL matches in January
• Amazing goals you might have forgotten - Elmander's 'Strictly' special

Enjoy the weekend. Hopefully you'll be able to see some football.

Guardiola waiting on PCR test result

Manchester City

Right that's nearly us done. If you are wondering about Pep Guardiola's absence, well the Manchester City manager returned an inconclusive coronavirus test result so his scheduled news conference was cancelled earlier.

If it turns out to be positive the Spaniard will have to isolate and he would not only miss the trip to St James' Park on Sunday to face Newcastle but also the home clash with Leicester on 26 December.

Guardiola, who lost his mother to the virus last year, was last seen in public on Wednesday when he represented City at Sergio Aguero's retirement announcement in Barcelona.

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Tottenham ready to play

Simon Stone

BBC Sport

Tottenham have had three successive games called off but it does appear they will be in a position to fulfil their fixture against Liverpool on Sunday.

"We are ready to follow what the Premier League decide," said manager Antonio Conte.

"The situation with Rennes, was a big problem for us. We had nine players and seven staff with Covid and no-one wants to take a decision.

"If there are rules we have to respect them. The situation is not simple. Every game we are prepared to play. It was the same against Leicester (on Thursday) but they (Premier League) decided to postpone.

How are new Covid cases impacting sport?

Want to know the impact that rising Covid-19 cases are having on football and sport in general?

Then this is the place to go.

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Lukaku 'feeling good' now after testing positive for Covid

Meanwhile, Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku provided an update on his healtha bit earlier via Instagram.

@romelulukaku

'The rules have to be the same for all the teams'

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte did not express an opinion on whether the Premier League should shut down, but said his side were "ready" to play against Liverpool on Sunday.

He said: "My thoughts are we are ready to follow the rules and I think it's the most important thing.

"If there are the rules, then for sure the rules have to be the same for all the teams.

"For this reason, we are ready to follow the rules and we are ready to play, and we're ready to do what the others tell us to do."

Spurs boss Conte won't force anyone to get jabbed

Simon Stone

BBC Sport

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte took the opportunity to reveal he and his family has received their Covid vaccinations.

I took the opportunity to ask him if there were any players in his squad who hadn't - and if he would persuade them to.

"It is not easy to answer this question," he said.

"Every person and player has to take their own decision. I took my decision. My family took their decision. I'd like that other people do the same but every single person needs to take the best decision for himself.

"But I can’t force anyone, it is not right. It is very difficult to go into the head of another person.

"I think every single person, every single player or member of staff at Tottenham or other clubs, has to take the decision for themselves.".

Eriksen's Inter Milan departure confirmed

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Christian Eriksen and Inter Milan have reached an agreement for the player to leave the club.

In a statement the club said that the "entire Nerazzurri family embrace the player and wish him the best for his future.

"Even if today the paths of Inter and Christian separate, a strong and indissoluble bond will remain.

The Denmark midfielder has not played since he collapsed during his country's Euro 2020 match against Finland in June.

It was recently revealed that he had started training again on his own, at a facility arranged by his local club Odense in Denmark.

There has been no confirmation about whether or where Eriksen is going to resume his professional career.

However, even if that is the 29-year-old's wish, it cannot happen in Serie A unless he has the ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) that was inserted following his cardiac arrest removed.

'We expect players to show common sense'

Aston Villa

The final word from Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard: "We have reminded players of their responsibilities and the rules. We expect players to show common sense and keep them and their families safe.

"We have changed and altered everything we have been told to. Since the new variant we have gone back to where we were in the first place."

On a possible break: "We sit and wait to see if there’s a decision made on that. I don’t have an opinion on it. Footballers should never be expected to play within two days.

"Playing on the 26th and 28th of December isn’t right. When you take Covid into account I don’t think it should happen. I hope common sense prevails."

'Maybe we are forced to do the crazy stuff' - Tuchel on selection issues

Chelsea

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel with an update on injuries ahead of their trip to the Molineux:

"Mateo Kovacic is back in his first training session today. "If you want to have my very honest opinion, we have again Jorginho a doubt for Sunday, because he's in pain.

"We have Ruben Loftus Cheek a doubt, because he's in pain. So do we know that they can travel with us tomorrow? No we don't.

"I don't know if it's possible for them to play on Sunday. So maybe we will start with N'Golo [Kante] And Mateo. "Would that be fair? No. Would that be possible? I don't know, but maybe we have to.

"We need to find a balance now, because we put everything on Jorginho's shoulders and on his responsibility.

"Maybe we are forced to do the crazy stuff that we wouldn't normally do. But what's normal? We miss key players and we find solutions."

'Nobody should be put under pressure' - Gerrard

Aston Villa

The Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has been discussing the issues around Covid-19 and football in plenty of depth.

He adds: "Everyone wants to make the supporters and the public the priority. I’m double jabbed and boosted, I’m certainly pro jabs for sure.

"I don’t think anyone should be put under pressure certainly not from Downing Street at the moment.

"If there’s a headline from me at this press conference it’s that player welfare and safety has to be taken into consideration. We’re having to use more players for more minutes because of Covid.

"Then there are colds and bugs at this time of year and you think are those players potentially going to have a positive test in the next couple of days, do you take them out? Player safety is paramount.

"I don’t want to be negative here this is just the situation that we’re in. The players are ready to play but we’re living and working in a real challenging situation."

'Wolves game will be a tough one'

Chelsea

When Thomas Tuchel took over as Chelsea manager Wolves were his first opponents.

Here's what he had to say about them and what has happened since:

"Lot of things have happened since then. Of course we had a big achievement in terms of a trophy but it is always living the moment, pushing the moment to the limit."

"To feel valued and that we are part of this club is what makes me happy. It is nice we have some victories under our belt and even a big title but it is not the moment to reflect on it. We are in the middle of brushing the Everton result off our shoulders.

"We need to stay positive and find an 11 to hopefully win the match against Wolves because it's a tough one. It's hard to create chances against them, break their defensive line and we have to be careful of their speed and individual quality up front."

'I’m actually scared to look at my phone'

Aston Villa

More from the Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard: "We all want the same thing and want the game to continue.

"There are a lot of concerns, a lot of questions. The Premier League have put a meeting together for the managers to get together.

"There is also an opportunity for the captains to get together to talk. I’m not sure what Burnley’s situation is but I can tell Sean Dyche if anything changes we will be in touch as soon as possible. We are ready to play at the moment.

"There’s certainly a constant paranoia. The testing process has gone every day and the PCR tests are twice a week. Even now we are playing in 24 hours, I have a team I want to play but it could change.

"I’m actually scared to look at my phone at the moment because every time the doctor calls me something changes."

'We are in a position to play' - Gerrard

Aston Villa

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Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard gets his news conference under way by chatting about the main topic of the day, week and weekend. Covid.

"We are staying in dialogue with the Premier League," Gerrard said.

"At the moment we are in a position to play and we’re prepared to play. We’re at a delicate stage due to different things. We are awaiting PCR results, we have had a clear run of lateral flow tests.

"I don’t have any concerns but I do have trust in the Premier League and the people who make the decisions. In terms of being in my shoes I have to prepare the team as best I can.

"We have had some cases in the playing staff and have had some cases in the staff. I’m hoping we have a good 24 hours or we could have a situation that grows and gets worse here."

Gerrard up next

Aston Villa

Steven Gerrard has spoken to the media prior to Aston Villa’s match against Burnley, lots of (more) chat about Covid, circuit breakers, preparing for games and positive cases in the Villa squad incoming...

'If we continue to put the effort in then we will get the output'

Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel on if there were any signs of improvement to his Chelsea side after the 1-1 draw against Everton:

"Hopefully. We were very disappointed with the result. We are trying hard not to accept the result when analysing the match and performance because it is a clear win for us, obviously it is not.

"Because we want to have the proof of our performances in results. It is easy to doubt, to be emotional and let disappointment take over but at the same time we have to accept we played a very good match of football, created a lot of chances and got punished.

"It happens in the moment but there are good signs, good behaviours and good energy.

"If we continue to put the effort in then we will get the output, there is no alternative."

'Clarity and transparency is always good'

Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel on if there should be clarity from the Premier League on potential match postponements:

"If they want to, they can. It is not in my hands but clarity and transparency is always good in every subject.

"I know the rules now, I did not get involved too early. I read them and then immediately forgot them because there are so many of them."

'Havertz back in training'

Chelsea

Here is Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel speaking to media.

Latest Covid update:

"No more positive tests but the lottery starts again tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon.

"We are happy at the moment that Kai [Havertz] has more than only one negative result so he was back in training."

Bruno's getting on with it

Simon Stone

BBC Sport

I didn't get the impression Wolves manager Bruno Lage has given too much thought about whether the Premier League should stop or not.

Wolves won at Brighton on Wednesday and they don't seem to be in too bad a state, so he is probably happy to keep going.

But Lage accepts the imbalance in the table in terms of games played is not good.

"I don’t have an opinion," he said.

"If we have players for the matches we play but if there are clubs with three or four games less, maybe it is better to stop."

Wolves

Wolves boss Bruno Lage has been asked to give his thoughts on a possible Premier League break as Covid cases at clubs mount up.

"In the beginning my opinion is what is fair for everyone," said the Portuguese boss.

"How many professional players do you need to be available to play the game. If some teams are losing a lot of matches, there are teams with three or four games less.

"Judge how many players and which players should be available to play the game. If we have 14 or 15 available. Some of the teams like us, we have a small squad. If we have three or four players with Covid we don’t have players for the games. We have to find the best solutions and conditions for each game.

My family are coming, I am concerned about that. Sometimes we think about the professional life and forget about the other part. It is difficult to talk about Covid. We have to be aware it is not just about Covid but also the professional life.