Manchester United’s clash with Brighton and Tottenham’s trip to Leicester are the latest Premier League games to be postponed due to coronavirus.
Having already seen Tuesday’s clash with Brentford called off, United will not play this weekend amid an outbreak at the club.
The Foxes are also dealing with a number of positive cases in their camp, while Spurs have had to cancel their last two fixtures for the same reason.
A statement from the Premier League said: “Manchester United’s fixture against Brighton this weekend has been postponed by the Premier League board today.
“It is with regret that this is the fourth Premier League fixture to have been postponed in the past week.
“While recognising a number of clubs are experiencing Covid-19 outbreaks, it is the league’s intention to continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible.
“Regarding Manchester United’s game on Saturday, the club continues to have an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak within their squad, which has left them unable to field a team for the match at Old Trafford.
“A significant number of Covid-19 cases led to their game against Brentford being called off earlier this week and today additional positive tests have been confirmed.”
A United statement added: “Manchester United can confirm that our Premier League fixture against Brighton, scheduled for Saturday 18 December at 12:30 GMT, has been postponed and will be rescheduled in due course.
“The health of players and staff is our priority. Given the number of players and support staff having to isolate due to Covid-19, the club had no option other than to request the match be rearranged.
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“The Premier League board took the decision to postpone based on guidance from medical advisors. We will also suspend football training operations at the Carrington Training Complex for a short period to help reduce risk of further transmission.
“We regret any disappointment and inconvenience caused to fans by the postponement.”
Brentford’s meeting with United and Watford’s trip to Burnley were both postponed earlier this week as football grapples with another surge in coronavirus cases.
The Bees have since learned of 13 positive cases among players and first-team staff.
Manager Thomas Frank called for the upcoming round of Premier League games this weekend, plus next week’s Carabao Cup quarter-finals, to be postponed to give clubs a chance to deal with the spread.
Frank said: “The coronavirus cases are going through the roof at all Premier League clubs.
“Everyone is dealing with it and everyone has a problem at this moment in time.
“To postpone this round [of Premier League games] and the Carabao Cup would give everyone a week at least to clean and do everything at the training ground so everything is fine and we break the chain at every club.”
Meanwhile, Brighton boss Graham Potter questioned how long “football can continue on the path it’s on” after revealing the Seagulls wanted their game against Wolves last night to be postponed.
