Manchester United confirm COVID-19 cases, game vs. Brentford in doubt

Manchester United defeated Norwich City 1-0 on Saturday and currently sit fifth in the Premier League table on 27 points but may find themselves temporarily shut down ahead of Christmas. 

United confirmed Monday they've closed their training ground for a minimum of 24 hours due to an undisclosed number of COVID-19 cases. According to Rob Dawson of ESPN, United are involved in talks with Premier League officials about the status of Tuesday's league match versus Brentford. 

"Given cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the Club is in discussion with the Premier League whether it is safe for Tuesday’s fixture against Brentford to continue, both from a Covid [sic] infection and player preparation perspective," United explained. 

"Team and staff travel to London will be deferred pending the result of that discussion." 

As Joe Shread noted for Sky Sports, United first recorded positive coronavirus test results on Sunday. Despite the COVID-19 issues, Brentford manager Thomas Frank said earlier on Monday he was preparing for his side to face United on Tuesday. 

"I think it needs to be a significant amount of COVID cases before the game can be canceled but to be fair I'm a little bit in doubt when it is enough," Frank remarked. 

Tottenham Hotspur have had two games postponed amid their current COVID-19 outbreak. It's unknown if they'll be cleared to play against Leicester City this coming Thursday.