December 07, (THEWILL) – Tottenham Hotspur’s preparations for Thursday’s match against Rennes have been hampered by the discovery of multiple cases of COVID-19 around the club.
Spurs have seven games left until the end of the month, three of which are in the next nine days, so there is possibly no worse moment in the football calendar to be struck by an outbreak.
Without a complete team in the run-up to the Rennes game, Antonio Conte may be obliged to figure out a method to get through it after many players and staff personnel tested positive for COVID-19.
For now, six players and two members of staff have tested positive for the virus. These were lateral flow tests, thus individuals who tested positive were sent for full PCR tests to ascertain whether the virus was present at the club.
Spurs had two false positives earlier this season, with PCR testing saving the day, and fans will be crossing their fingers that it will not happen again here.
UEFA rules state that teams must play if they have at least 13 senior players available, including one goalkeeper. As of now, the Rennes game is expected to go ahead. Spurs are thought to have not been hit as hard as they have been in the past.
If the positive results are verified, anyone who has been affected will be obliged to isolate for at least 10 days, which means they will miss three games: Rennes, Brighton, and Leicester City.
Spurs will face Liverpool on December 19, and while that match is not part of the isolation period, it might be influenced by players who continue to test positive, are out of shape after quarantine, or are otherwise unfit to play.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
