The show goes on for Premier League as all matches are back on track. A lengthy discussion among all stakeholders has helped them arrive at the conclusion to reject a circuit breaker stoppage situation. 

Though the meeting took place after six out of ten EPL games had to be postponed in one week, due to rising COVID cases, a large number of clubs have voted to continue playing through this festive season. 

The obvious downside to carrying on down this path, is that if cases continue rising, and force further postponements within the league, then a stoppage will be enforced in January. Though some clubs did favour shifting the match dates for gameweek 20, between December 28 and 30, to a later date, their idea was rejected. Mainly, this is because the change is extremely complex and risky to implement. 

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While there were no formal votes, all parties were heard out, and the final decision to continue or discontinue playing, fell on the shoulders of the 20 clubs in the league. The idea of stopping the season entirely also came up, but reports suggest that not a single club favoured that outcome. 

It should be noted that managers of major Premier League clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool, earlier expressed discontent about the decision to keep the matches going while Europe witnesses a rising number of COVID infections everyday. Thomas Tuchel declared that keeping matches scheduled is nothing short of putting a team through serious health and safety risks. Liverpool’s managerial genius, Jurgen Klopp, also echoed similar sentiments, when he said the club could not just keep playing if more players fell ill. 

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Both the teams have quite a few players who have been infected. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner unavailable, a stretched Chelsea squad merely managed a goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Similarly, a Liverpool side lacking the sturdy dependability of Fabinho and Virgil Van Dijk, tied 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur.