Arsenal-Liverpool Carabao Cup semifinal first leg postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak

Posted Thursday, January 06, 2022 by ESPN

Arsenal qualified for the semifinals with a win over Sunderland last month, while Liverpool beat Leicester City. Visionhaus/Getty Images

The first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal clash between Arsenal and Liverpool has been postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak, it was announced.

Liverpool cancelled their first-team training on Tuesday following a COVID-19 outbreak among the squad, and the club's Carabao Cup tie at Arsenal, originally scheduled for Thursday, has now been called off.

The first game between the two sides will be played at Anfield on Jan, 13 with the return leg at the Emirates on Jan. 20.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp missed his side's 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19.

The club had also cancelled a pre-match news conference on Wednesday after assistant manager Pep Lijnders, who had taken interim charge of the team while Klopp was isolating, tested positive for COVID-19.

Another statement later in the day confirmed that the club had closed the first-team training centre. Liverpool didn't say how long the facility would be closed but it is likely to be for the next 48 hours at least.

The English football calendar has been heavily impacted since the emergence of the Omicron variant, with a total of 18 Premier League games called off within the last month.

Arsenal qualified for the semifinals with a 5-1 win over Sunderland last month, while Liverpool edged past Leicester City on penalties after a 3-3 draw at Anfield.