EFL facing ‘pressure’ to investigate Liverpool after ‘false positives’
The EFL is reportedly coming under increasing pressure to investigate Liverpool after a number of their recent positive Covid-19 tests came back as ‘false positives’.
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal was postponed last Thursday after the Premier League club asked the EFL to call the game off following a Covid-19 outbreak at the Reds’ training facility.
Alisson Becker, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino had already missed their match against Chelsea on January 2, while Jurgen Klopp was also isolating for the game against Thomas Tuchel’s men.
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However, Klopp revealed that the club “had a lot of false positives” ahead of their postponed fixture against Arsenal with those players still unable to play in their 4-1 victory over Shrewsbury in the FA Cup at the weekend.
“We had last week a proper outbreak and it showed up that we had a lot of false positives but the rules are like they are so all these players who are false positives couldn’t play [against Shrewsbury],” Klopp said.
“The only real positive came from Trent Alexander-Arnold and all the rest were false positives.”
And The Athletic claim that the EFL is ‘under pressure to investigate why Liverpool players who tested positive for COVID-19 before the postponement of their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal were subsequently found to have been negative, with the Anfield club facing questions over the scale of their recent outbreak’.
The report adds:
‘The Athletic understands that the EFL has received complaints from some of its clubs over the postponement, following Jurgen Klopp’s admission that all but one of the club’s positive tests were ‘false positives’ — meaning later tests showed those players did not actually have COVID-19.
‘It is believed that confused clubs want clarity over exactly when Liverpool found out this information, as if it was before the Arsenal match, there is a chance the fixture could have proceeded as planned.
‘The upset clubs want the situation investigated because a number of them have requested postponements this season because of COVID-19 outbreaks only for appeals to be rejected.
‘The EFL is facing calls from clubs to open an investigation into the incident which could lead to Liverpool facing a severe punishment should it be found the club failed to fulfil a fixture without just cause.’
Liverpool lost home advantage for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal with the match at the Emirates Stadium now scheduled for January 20, seven days after the first leg at Anfield on January 13.
