PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea and Liverpool stars test positive for covid-19
Lukaku, Werner, Hudson-Odoi, Chilwell, Van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones are all in quarantine after contracting coronavirus, their respective clubs confirmed.
Chelsea confirmed on Thursday that four players, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell had contracted covid-19.
The four stars were left out of the squad for this evening's Premier League game against Everton, although Chilwell would have missed it anyway as he is injured. All of them must remain in self-isolation for the next 10 days
Kai Havertz is also ill, but didn't test positive. Thomas Tuchel explained in his pre-match press conference that the squad did additional tests this morning after a number of players complained of feeling unwell before Wednesday's training session.
The news comes after five of the 10 games programmed for this weekend have been postponed as coronavirus cases rocket at Premier League clubs.
Liverpool: Van Dijk, Fabinho and Jones all test positive
Liverpool were also in action on Thursday but were without Virgil Van Dijk, Curtis Jones and Fabinho all of whom tested positive for the virus and missed the home game agains Newcastle United.
Five weekend matches have been called off as although Liverpool's meeting with Tottenham is one of the ones which will go ahead.
The three Liverpool players are all in quarantine and testing has been stepped up within the rest of the squad. The rest of the first team squad tested negative.
New cases at Chelsea and Liverpool come in the worst week for the Premier League since the start of the pandemic. In total, nine games have been cancelled, while last week, 42 cases were reported between players and coaching staff - the highest figures since football resumed.