Palace´s trip to Spurs goes ahead despite Eagles´ COVID-19 outbreak

Crystal Palace’s trip to Tottenham will go ahead as expected despite a reported COVID-19 outbreak in Patrick Vieira’s squad.

Spurs are set to host Palace on Sunday as part of the Premier League’s Boxing Day schedule, but widespread reports suggested the fixture would be called off due to coronavirus issues at the south London club.

Vieira confirmed on Friday in his pre-match news conference that Palace had received a couple of positive tests and there was growing concern over the evolution of the problem over the coming days.

However, Palace confirmed on the day of the fixture that the game would go ahead as normal in a statement that read: “We can confirm that our match away at Spurs is going ahead today as scheduled (15:00 GMT).”

Palace later announced manager Vieira was self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus, meaning assistant manager Osian Roberts will deputise in the Frenchman’s absence on the touchline.

We can confirm that Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is self-isolating after returning a positive test for Covid-19, and will be absent from the touchline for today’s match against Spurs.

Assistant manager Osian Roberts will deputise for Vieira for today’s match.#CPFC pic.twitter.com/nBNmkLlxMG

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 26, 2021

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham have already been impacted by numerous postponements, with two league games and a Europa Conference League tie all called off due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the club.

The Premier League has also already confirmed that Leeds United’s visit to Liverpool, Watford’s match at Wolves and Burnley’s home clash with Everton have all been postponed ahead of Boxing Day.