The demanding Christmas calendar of the Premier League and the increase in positives of Covid-19 is putting English teams in an extreme situation. This is the case of Leicester, whose coach, Brendan Rodgers, reported today that their striker Jamie Vardy will be out for between three and four weeks due to a muscle injury he suffered on Tuesday against Liverpool at King Power Stadium (1-0) .
Vardy, at 34 years of age, top scorer of the ‘foxes’ in the Premier with 9 goals, lasted the 90 minutes despite already dragging discomfort that prevented him from playing two days before, on Boxing Day against Manchester City at the Etihad (6-3).
“He wasn’t sure if it was on a play with Joel Matip or if he felt the pain at the time. He ran and kept going. But the scan showed the thigh injury, so he could be out for three to four weeks,” he said. Rodgers, who in any case made it clear that accumulated fatigue contributed to the injury.
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The casualties are accumulating for Rodgers but not all of it is bad news since James Maddison, a basic player in his scheme, will be available for the game on Saturday, January 1, against Norwich despite the fact that he had to retire during the second half against Liverpool .
Barnes and Bertrand, about to return
In addition, Harvey Barnes has returned to training after missing the last three games, while Ryan Bertrand will do so next week after hurting his knee in training. On the other hand, in defense Ricardo Pereira, Çaglar Soyüncü, Jonny Evans and Wesley Fofana are still out.
Leicester has also been affected by a Covid-19 outbreak and the Premier League suspended the games it was supposed to play against Tottenham (December 16) and Everton (December 19).
Rodgers criticizes the leaders
Rodgers insisted that the health of the players must be taken into account since they endure a very demanding schedule that will be tightened even more if possible with the rescheduling of the 16 games already suspended due to outbreaks of Covid-19 in the squads.
“We have had several meetings but football does not seem to get into that. It is more about playing the games and the impact that that has financially,” lamented Rodgers, who considers that the coaches’ pleas have fallen on deaf ears.