Medical expert claims ‘big changes coming’ after Arsenal-Tottenham saga update in last 24 hours
The Premier League will likely tighten its threshold for matches to be postponed in light of the recent drama at Arsenal.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Arsenal were set to play North London rivals Tottenham last Sunday but successfully applied to have the game called off amid a Covid outbreak.
The Gunners had players unavailable due to the virus as well as injuries, suspensions and international absentees at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Spurs were furious with the decision and released a statement expressing their surprise at the Premier League’s ruling.
Per Sky Sports yesterday (19 January), Mike Arteta said Arsenal would never have publicly questioned their opponents had roles been reversed.
Dinnery backed the Spanish manager and insisted that the top-flight needs to adapt its rules to account for “unprecedented” times.
“There is an ambiguity with regards to the protocols and guidance in the Premier League handbook,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“Many believe the development players should step up to the first team to cover these absences.
“But the issue is that the absences don’t have to be Covid-related. It’s purely down to availability and numbers.
“The issue that people have is regarding transparency.
“When do clubs announce how many positive cases they have, how many are in the first team? How many are affecting development players or staff?
“There’s also the decision making process. Some teams have fewer positive cases than others and their games are still called off.
“For me, Arsenal aren’t guilty of gaming the system. The league need to tighten up their guidelines.
“People will look at the players who were potentially sidelined and the players that Arsenal loaned out.
“But in the strictness sense, they didn’t have the players to meet the requirements. They felt they didn’t have cover from their development side.
“I don’t portion any blame onto the clubs. These are unprecedented times and things are maybe cropping up in hindsight.
“I expect that big changes are coming, if not this season then certainly heading into the next campaign.”
The Premier League are yet to announce a new date for the North London derby.
Arsenal are in action against Liverpool in the League Cup tonight (20 January), while Spurs face Chelsea in the league on Sunday (23 January).
In other news, Kevin Campbell suggests Arsenal have dropped major hint over William Saliba future after confirmed news.