Steven Gerrard Aston Villa 2021-22Getty Images

Aston Villa vs Burnley off as latest Premier League fixture postponed amid Covid-19 surge

Aston Villa and Burnley's Premier League clash this weekend has been called off hours before kick-off after the hosts recorded a number of positive Covid-19 test results within their squad.

The clash between Steven Gerrard's hosts and Sean Dyche's Clarets at Villa Park becomes the latest top-flight game in England to be affected by the current Omicron surge across the country.

It leaves Leeds United's encounter with Arsenal as the only remaining fixture of a ravaged Saturday schedule.

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What has happened?

Having already seen several fixtures postponed across December as infection rates have steadily risen throughout the country, the Premier League intended to soldier on today despite having been forced to postpone four matches.

But with less than three hours to go until kick-off in Birmingham, Villa confirmed on social media that they would be postponing their game following an increased number of apparent cases throughout their playing group.

It means they join a slew of matches scheduled for today that have already been forced off by Covid-19, including Manchester United's encounter with Brighton, Brentford's trip to Southampton, Watford's clash with Crystal Palace and West Ham's game with Norwich.

Will there be any more games called off?

Right now, the Premier League says that their remaining fixtures scheduled for this weekend are intended to go ahead as planned.

This includes Leeds United and Arsenal's game on Saturday, along with Manchester City's trip to Newcastle, Chelsea's visit to Wolves and Liverpool's journey to Tottenham on Sunday.

However, given the fluid nature of the situation, it may well prove that further games could be axed if additional case numbers are found to have risen within playing groups.

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