EPL schedule takes another hit amid growing virus concerns

By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer

The English Premier League’s pandemic-affected schedule took a further hit when an COVID-19 outbreak in Aston Villa’s squad sparked the postponement of its match against Burnley and reduced the number of fixtures in the round to four. England continued to be the most heavily disrupted of the major soccer countries in Europe. That reflected the growing public-health emergency in Britain as the omicron variant spreads. So depleted was the Premier League schedule that there was only one game on Saturday. That saw Arsenal win 4-1 at injury-hit Leeds.