Aston Villa's clash with Chelsea facing postponement following Callum Hudson-Odoi coronavirus diagnosis
Aston Villa's Premier League clash with Chelsea looks certain to be postponed after Blues winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus late last night.
The Premier League has already announced that an emergency club meeting will take place this morning, following Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta's positive diagnosis yesterday.
That meeting has thrown this weekend's top flight schedule into serious doubt - along with other matches in the coming weeks.
The league had previously stated that all games were set to go ahead as normal ahead of the news about the Gunners' head coach.
Chelsea have confirmed that the entire first-team squad and coaching staff will go into self-isolation following the news regarding their 19-year-old winger - meaning the fixture with Villa looks set to be postponed.
Arsenal's clash with Brighton has already been called off - and it's expected now that Villa's game with Frank Lampard's side, due to kick off at 5.30pm on Saturday, will follow a similar fate.
There have been calls to suspend Premier League football following the coronavirus outbreak - with this morning's meeting to discuss the potential suspension of the league expected to announce as much.
Chelsea issued a statement regarding the news surrounding their first-team squad online, and confirmed that part of the side's training ground will be closed.
"Chelsea men’s team player Callum Hudson-Odoi had a positive test result for Coronavirus returned this evening." The statement read.
"Chelsea personnel who had recent close contact with the player in the men’s team building will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines. These will include initially the full men’s team squad, coaching staff and a number of backroom staff.
"It is expected that those who did not have close contact with Callum will return to work in the coming days. In the meantime, the men’s team building, one of several separate buildings at our training ground, will remain closed. The rest of our training facility, Stamford Bridge and our other facilities are operating as normal.
"Callum displayed symptoms similar to a mild cold on Monday morning and has not been at the training ground since then as a precaution. However, his test came in positive this evening and he will undergo a period of self-isolation.
"Despite testing positive for the virus, Callum is doing well and looking forward to returning to the training ground as soon as it is possible.
"We will continue to adhere to Government and Public Health Guidelines with regard to our facilities and staff and will be discussing next steps with regards to upcoming fixtures with the Premier League on Friday morning. We will provide further updates as necessary via the club’s website.
"We wish Callum a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to the club soon."