Burnley vs Watford clash given third date after being postponed twice

The fixture was postponed for a second time earlier this week.

Burnley’s Premier League match against Watford has been rearranged for February 5 (Zac Goodwin/PA) (PA Wire)

Burnley and Watford will hope it is third time lucky as their Premier League fixture has been rearranged for February 5 with a 6pm kick-off time.

The fixture was postponed for a second time earlier this week. It was originally due to be played on December 15 but was called off due to Covid-19 cases within the Watford squad before an outbreak at Burnley forced the postponement of the rearranged match on January 18.

But with both sides having already been knocked out of the FA Cup, it has been rescheduled for the weekend of the fourth-round fixtures.

On Thursday, Watford boss Claudio Ranieri had urged the Premier League to make an exception and allow the match to go ahead next weekend, which has been left blank for a winter break that coincides with World Cup qualifiers in North and South America.

“I hope when we play against Burnley we will have some more days to recover for another match,” Ranieri said. “We have a week free and we can maybe play a little earlier.”

The match is one of five that Burnley, bottom of the table having played the fewest matches of any top-flight side this season, needed to rearrange.

They have also seen matches against Everton Aston Villa and Leicester postponed due to Covid-19, while November’s fixture against Tottenham was called off due to heavy snow.