Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Burnley boss Sean Dyche will miss their club’s FA Cup third-round ties this weekend after testing positive for coronavirus.
Premier League champions City have announced Guardiola, his assistant Juanma Lillo and seven players are among a group of 21 from the first-team bubble isolating amid a Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
The identities of the players have not yet been revealed but they will miss Friday’s cup tie at League Two Swindon, for which assistant coach Rodolfo Borrell will take charge.
Despite the high number of people affected, City have not requested a postponement of the match at the County Ground.
“We are prepared to play the game and mentally we are ready for it,” said Borrell at a press conference.
Burnley will also be without their manager, Dyche, as they host Championship side Huddersfield at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Assistant Ian Woan will be in charge on the touchline for the Clarets, who had two Premier League games in December postponed for Covid-related reasons.
A club statement read: “Burnley Football Club can confirm manager Sean Dyche will miss this weekend’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Huddersfield, after testing positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
“Sean will now follow the mandatory self-isolation protocols.”
Elsewhere, Gabon boss Patrice Neveu has revealed Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has contracted Covid-19.
The Gunners striker is currently preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations, which begins on Sunday.
Gabon’s first game is on Monday against Comoros and Neveu revealed Aubameyang, team-mate Mario Lemina and coach Yala Anicet were waiting on the results of PCRs following positive lateral flow tests.
He told reporters on Thursday: “They underwent a PCR test and are isolating in their hotel.”
Meanwhile, Everton have announced their Women’s Super League match at Aston Villa scheduled for Saturday has been postponed due to coronavirus cases in their squad.
It is the third fixture of the forthcoming round of WSL games to be called off after Chelsea v Tottenham (Friday) and West Ham v Manchester United (Sunday) were postponed on Wednesday because of Covid-19 in the home camps.
