Steven Gerrard Can't Lead Aston Villa Matches Against Chelsea And Leeds United Due To Positive COVID-19

JAKARTA - Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard will miss the two Premier League games his team will play after testing positive for COVID-19, the English club said as quoted by Reuters from Antara, Sunday, December 26. The 41-year-old coach who joined the club last month then it will miss today's home game against Chelsea and Tuesday's away game against Leeds United due to self-isolation. The former Liverpool and England captain led Villa to four wins in six league games since being appointed to replace Dean Smith. 10th in the league standings with 22 points from 17 matches. "Aston Villa can confirm that Head Coach Steven Gerrard will not be able to attend the next two Premier League games against Chelsea and Leeds United due to isolation after testing positive for COVID-19," said Villa.

Villa's game against hosts Burnley last week was postponed about two hours before kickoff due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has hit the club. 90 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Premier League players and staff in the past week, while 13 games have been postponed due to the disease. The UK recorded its highest daily case of 122,186 cases of COVID-19 on Friday as the country battles a surge in infections triggered by the Omicron variant.