‘Discussions ongoing’

The Villans and Reds are due to get their respective FA Cup campaigns underway on Friday.

As the heavyweights of English football take their place in the 3rd-round of the country’s oldest cup competition, Villa and Liverpool have been pitted against one another, in one of three all-Premier League ties.

Elsewhere, Wolves will play host to Crystal Palace, before Arsenal and Newcastle go head to head on Saturday.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates with the trophy after winning the Heads Up FA Cup final match at Wembley Stadium, London. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

As outlined above, however, if the latest word stemming from Villa Park on Thursday is anything to go by, then Dean Smith’s squad may be in no condition to take to the pitch tomorrow night.

This comes on the back of a major outbreak of Covid-19 at the club.

In a post across the Claret and Blue’s social media platforms a short time ago, it was confirmed that ‘a large number’ of individuals, from both the playing and backroom staff, had returned positive coronavirus tests.

In turn, Villa’s training ground has been closed with immediate effect, as those affected enter a mandatory period of self isolation:

‘Aston Villa can confirm that the Club has closed its Bodymoor Heath training ground after a significant Coronavirus outbreak.’

‘A large number of first team players and staff returned positive tests after being routinely tested on Monday and immediately went into isolation.’

‘A second round of testing was carried out immediately and produced more positive results today.’

‘First team training ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup match with Liverpool was cancelled.’

It now remains to be seen whether Friday’s planned clash at Villa Park will be given the green light to go ahead, with the statement in question having concluded that:

‘Discussions are ongoing between medical representatives of the Club, the Football Association and the Premier League.’

Aston Villa can confirm that the Club has closed its Bodymoor Heath training ground after a significant Coronavirus outbreak.

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 7, 2021

Saints to sit out

News of the concerning situation in Aston comes just hours after another of the FA Cup’s 3rd-round ties involving a Premier League club was postponed.

The fixture in question, which was due to see Southampton welcome Shrewsbury Town to St. Mary’s on Saturday, was officially called off this afternoon, on the back of a coronavirus spread amid the latter’s ranks:

This Saturday’s #EmiratesFACup tie will not take place as scheduled, following a number of positive Covid-19 tests at @shrewsweb.

We would like to send our best wishes to all those affected at Shrewsbury.

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 7, 2021

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Liverpool FC	17	16	33
2	Manchester United FC	16	9	33
3	Leicester City FC	17	10	32
4	Tottenham Hotspur FC	16	14	29
5	Manchester City FC	15	11	29
6	Southampton FC	17	7	29
7	Everton FC	16	6	29
8	Aston Villa FC	15	13	26
9	Chelsea FC	17	11	26
10	West Ham United FC	17	3	26
11	Arsenal FC	17	1	23
12	Leeds United	17	-3	23
13	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	17	-6	22
14	Crystal Palace FC	17	-7	22
15	Newcastle United FC	16	-8	19
16	Burnley FC	15	-11	16
17	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	17	-7	14
18	Fulham FC	15	-10	11
19	West Bromwich Albion	17	-28	8
20	Sheffield United FC	17	-21	2

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	13
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	12
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	11
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	11
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	11
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	10
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	10
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	8
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	8
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	7
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	7
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	7
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	6
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	6
Maupay, Neal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	6
Abraham, Tammy	Chelsea FC	6
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	5
Firmino, Roberto	Liverpool FC	5
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City FC	5
Soucek, Tomas	West Ham United FC	5

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC	0	6
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	5
Romeu, Oriol	Southampton FC	0	5
Dunk, Lewis	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	4
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United	0	5
Cash, Matty	Aston Villa FC	0	5
Gallagher, Conor	West Bromwich Albion	0	5
Evans, Jonny	Leicester City FC	0	5
Kante, N`Golo	Chelsea FC	0	5
Milivojevic, Luka	Crystal Palace FC	1	4
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	4
Hayden, Isaac	Newcastle United FC	0	5
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	0	4
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	0	4
Klich, Mateusz	Leeds United	0	4
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	0	4
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC	0	4
Tielemans, Youri	Leicester City FC	0	4
Doucoure, Abdoulaye	Everton FC	0	4
Mings, Tyrone	Aston Villa FC	0	3

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	11
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	7
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	7
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	7
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	5
Robertson, Andrew	Liverpool FC	5
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	4
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	4
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	4
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	4
Adams, Che	Southampton FC	4
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	4
Chilwell, Benjamin	Chelsea FC	4
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	4
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	4
Digne, Lucas	Everton FC	4
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	3
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	3
Firmino, Roberto	Liverpool FC	3
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	3