Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher couldn’t resist taking a cheeky swipe at Arsenal after the Gunners’ clash with Tottenham was postponed.
Arsenal have been hit with injuries, players are unavailable due to testing positive for COVID-19 and others have flown out for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Gunners on Saturday confirmed in a club statement that Sunday’s north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been pushed back.
“We are disappointed to announce that Sunday’s north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur has been postponed,” reads the statement on Arsenal’s website.
“We know how much this match means to our fans around the world, but the Premier League has made the decision to postpone the match, due to many players across our squad currently being unavailable as a result of COVID-19, existing and recent injuries, in addition to players away with their countries at AFCON.”
Following the announcement, Carragher rattled Arsenal fans on Twitter after he claimed the club would be fine to play against Liverpool on 20th January.
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“All ok for Liverpool on Thursday,” he wrote, cheekily adding a thumbs-up emoji to his tweet.
Carragher was unfazed by the fierce backlash he received for his initial tweet and laughed it off in a follow-up tweet.
Gary Neville went one step further than his fellow Sky Sports pundit and launched a scathing attack over the decision to postpone matches.
The Manchester United legend tweeted: “Game off. What started out as postponements due to a pandemic has now become about clubs not having their best team.
“The Premier League must stop this now, draw a line in the sand and say all games go ahead unless you have an exceptional amount of CV cases. It’s wrong.”
Tottenham vs Arsenal is now the 21st Premier League match of the season to have been postponed in just over a month.
Speaking on Friday Night Football, Carragher insisted that teams are “taking advantage of the situation” and should be using their youth players where they are lacking numbers in the squad.
“I don't want this to be about Arsenal, it's about the Premier League as a whole. Every club has done this,” he said on Sky Sports.
“No other league in Europe is doing this, certainly not in those big leagues. Bayern Munich played a 16-year-old in their last game and that tells you exactly where they are.
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“Why can't we do that? Why can't the young players be given an opportunity in these circumstances?
“Everyone's in the same boat and I'm exactly with Gary. If it's an outbreak of COVID and it's decimated the squad, I can understand that, but players being in the AFCON tournament and just normal injuries, that's got nothing to do with it.
“You've got U23 squads and younger players, and this is an opportunity where they can get a chance.
“I know there's a lot riding on Premier League games, but at this moment there's no doubt teams up and down this country are taking advantage of the situation.”
Topics: Jamie Carragher, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, England, Football
Adnan Riaz