Arsenal v Liverpool League Cup semi-final postponed

The first leg of the League Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Liverpool on Thursday has been postponed due to a severe outbreak of COVID-19 infections at Liverpool.

Liverpool had requested the English Football League (EFL) on Tuesday to reschedule the game because of the rise in COVID-19 cases at the club.

The Merseyside club temporarily closed their training ground on Wednesday due to a rapidly growing number of suspected COVID-19 infections at the club.

"The EFL has been in regular dialogue with the club over the past 48 hours in an attempt to understand whether the tie could proceed but significant developments over this period have resulted in the Club reporting an ever-increasing number of COVID cases," it said in a statement.

As a result of the postponement, the order of the ties has been changed with the first of the two legs now taking place at Anfield on January 13, while the rearranged game will be played as the second leg at the Emirates stadium on January 20.

Liverpool players Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip returned positive tests on Sunday, while manager Juergen Klopp tested positive at the weekend.

Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Curtis Jones were also forced into isolation last month following positive tests.

The United Kingdom reported 218,724 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a new record for the number of cases reported on a single day in Britain.