Manchester United are not going to play yet another game this week. Following the postponement of their match against Brentford, the Red Devils will not play on Saturday against Brighton and Hove Albion either! The decision has been made, as the club have confirmed that Manchester United vs Brighton is being postponed due to further coronavirus cases in Ralf Rangnick’s team.
Reportedly, Manchester United have seven first-team players available for the Saturday match and that is why that game will not be played altogether. The COVID-19 outbreak at the club is wreaking havoc at the schedule, as Man United’s last game has been played five days ago, and as things stand, their next one will be played in 11 days, against Newcastle.
But plenty of things have to happen until then. Man United were unable to face Brentford as they did not train the day before the match was supposed to be played on Tuesday and now we know that the Saturday match is off as well, creating further issues with the calendar and the Premier League fixtures list. There are nine Premier League matches already postponed due to coronavirus outbreak, with United’s game being called off based on guidance from medical advisors.
This means Man United’s next game is expected to be played the day after Boxing Day, when they will travel to Newcastle’s St James’ Park. There will be a total of 16 days between that match and United’s previous one, when they defeated Norwich 1-0 at Carrow Road on 11 December. Therefore, there are now just two games left for United to play in 2021, as the Newcastle match will be followed by Burnley’s arrival at Old Trafford on 30 December. Of course, these are all matches expected to happen if things get back to normal to allow the teams to face each other.
Man United will then start 2022 at home against Wolves on 3 January, before seven days later they face Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup. Five days later, the two sides will meet again in the Premier League, but this time at Villa Park. Maybe that week between the Wolves and first of the two Villa matches would have been a good time to try and play one of the postponed games, but it seems that will not be possible.
Both Brentford and Brighton will play their first match in 2022 on 2 January, day before United do, with their FA Cup match following on 8 January, leaving no space in between for any of the two teams to face Man United. If their FA Cup matches were to be moved a couple of days later, maybe then United could have played one of the two postponed matches. This is all just to show what kind of chaotic scheduling awaits Premier League and not only for the two Manchester United matches, but also the other seven games already postponed. It should not be forgotten Tottenham Hotspur already had a couple of matches cancelled, before this big coronavirus outbreak occurred in the league.