Which Premier League players have COVID? A run-down of those affected

Paul Okey
20 December 2021

After the latest round of Premier League fixtures were decimated by a surge in COVID-19 cases, Planet Sport looks at all 20 top-flight clubs to see how they are managing the outbreak.

The Premier League released updated figures on Monday which showed that 77% of its players are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 16% have not been jabbed at all.

The figure is in stark contrast to Europe's other top leagues. Serie A says 98% of its players have been double jabbed, while France's Ligue 1 and Germany's Bundesliga are at 95% and 94%, respectively. La Liga is at more than 90%.

The low take-up in England may go some way to explaining the high number of games falling victim to COVID postponements over the past week. Planet Sport looks at how each club has been affected.

Arsenal

Defender Pablo Mari and midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga tested positive and missed the win at Leeds.

Aston Villa

Villa's Premier League clash with Burnley on December 18 was postponed just two hours before kick-off after an increased amount of positive COVID-19 tests within their squad. However, the club have yet to reveal the names of the players involved.

Brentford

The Bees have 13 cases among players and staff - the club are now calling for a circuit-breaker shutdown to help clubs recover. Their training ground has been closed and as their trip to Southampton on Saturday was postponed.

Sums up the state of play right now. Thomas Frank learning mid-conference of 4 more Covid cases at Brentford... pic.twitter.com/9md1iA9RdM
— Jack Staplehurst (@JackStaplehurst) December 16, 2021

Brighton

Graham Potter confirmed there were "three to four' positive cases before the game with Wolves last week, though names have not been released.

Burnley

The Clarets were angered by the late call-off of their clash with Aston Villa at the weekend and owner Alan Pace has made his stance on COVID jabs clear. Talking about players who have refused to get the jab, he said: "If they choose not to get vaccinated, then they may have to choose a different career."

Chelsea

Mateo Kovacic was the first Chelsea player to get the virus, with Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell following.

Jorginho, Kai Havertz and Ruben Loftus-Cheek then became the latest players to go into isolation ahead of the clash with Wolves.

Crystal Palace

Palace have been largely unaffected by positive COVID cases within their playing squad this season. At least one member of staff at the club tested positive for the virus last week. However, the players all submitted negative lateral flow results in the club's latest round of testing.

Everton

Everton's clash with Leicester was called off at the weekend due to a COVID outbreak at the Foxes. It is unknown how many Toffees players if any, have contracted the virus.

Leeds

Diego Llorente missed the defeat to Arsenal due to the virus and will also be absent for the Boxing Day game at Liverpool.

Leicester

Their training ground was closed last Thursday morning to contain an outbreak and their weekend trip to Everton was called off. However, the club are hopeful of playing their EFL Cup clash with Liverpool this week.

Daniel Amartey was the first of their players to return to training after the first batch of COVID cases. Kelechi Iheanacho, Ademola Lookman, Ayoze Perez and Jannik Vestergaard were all absent for the Foxes' trip to Naples a fortnight ago and are poised to return, too.

Liverpool

Fabinho, Curtis Jones and Virgil van Dijk all tested positive for COVID ahead of the clash with Newcastle, while midfielder Thiago returned a positive test ahead of Sunday's trip to Spurs.

Man City

Pep Guardiola has been a fierce advocate for society to take up vaccines following the death of his mother Dolors from the virus. An inconclusive coronavirus test put Guardiola's involvement in Sunday's clash with Newcastle in doubt but he later produced a negative PCR test.

Manchester United

Case numbers are currently unknown but it is understood that at least four players who took part in their clash with Norwich subsequently tested positive for COVID. Saturday's game with Brighton was postponed after it emerged United would have had only seven available players. Their training complex has been closed until Tuesday.

Newcastle

Newcastle didn't have any positive cases in their latest round of PCR tests, according to manager Eddie Howe on Monday.

Norwich

Josh Sargent, Lukas Rupp and Pierre Lees-Melou were absent from the squad that faced Aston Villa last week for 'COVID-related' reasons, but while Christos Tzolis is the only confirmed player to test positive, more positive test results have been returned.

Meanwhile, Sam Byram, Kieran Dowell, Adam Idah and Andrew Omobamidele were pictured receiving their booster jab at Norwich Community Hospital on Friday.

"We’ll help you understand how it’s saving lives, families and relatives.”

NHS nurse Susan Glegg and head of first team operations Jonny Martin on the importance of getting our boosters ⬇️#NCFC | @NCHC_NHS @NHSNWCCG pic.twitter.com/Kz0VaMoQGC
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) December 18, 2021

Southampton

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has said that his players are COVID-free at present. "We have got through this time with nearly no cases. You should feel safe when you are around the people who are here, you know that they are following the rules. I can only speak about our club, and we have a nearly a 100 percent vaccination rate. This is all we can do."

Tottenham

Spurs were the first Premier League club to be hit by the Omicron variant last week and saw games against Brighton and Rennes postponed after cases reached double digits among players and staff. Individual names weren't released but boss Antonio Conte revealed that in addition to the first-team squad, seven members of staff had returned positive tests plus "many, many" under-23 players.

Watford

Saw their midweek game with Burnley postponed just hours before kick-off. With their training ground closed, their home match with Crystal Palace at the weekend was also called. Case numbers are currently unknown.

West Ham

The Hammers are not believed to have any COVID cases, with manager David Moyes advocating a safety-first approach to the virus. He said: "We are doing everything we possibly can, we are wearing masks when we're indoors, we are washing our hands, we are sending messages to the players regularly about what to do, so we are trying to do everything."

Wolves

Yerson Mosquera and Fabio Silva had tested positive prior to Sunday's 0-0 draw with Chelsea.