PREMIER LEAGUE chiefs have been urged to CANCEL the last round of fixtures before the World Cup.
Injuries are beginning to pile up for Gareth Southgate’s England and other nations.
Ben Chilwell became the latest Three Lions star to see his dreams in ruins ahead of this month’s tournament in Qatar after suffering a hamstring injury at the end of Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Premier League teams still have two matches to play, with the final round taking place on November 12 and 13 – just a week before the World Cup starts.
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara reckons one way to avoid further injury woe is for the final round of Prem fixtures to be axed.
O’Hara told talkSPORT: “Cancel the last round of games in the Premier League, give them a bit of breathing space.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
“The Premier League should do it, or the players should get involved.
“This is the problem with the Premier League. It’s all about money, all about getting the revenue in. The players are not being protected.
“It’s as simple as that. There are too many games and too many injuries and England are going to suffer.”
There are also Carabao Cup ties to be played in between the league fixtures.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
SunSport has exclusively revealed Chilwell’s hope of playing at the World Cup is over after he left Stamford Bridge on crutches.
Blues team-mate Reece James is already set to miss out on Southgate’s squad.
And Man City duo Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are racing to be fit.
Meanwhile, Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also unlikely to recover in time.
There are too many games and too many injuries
Jamie O’Hara
Southgate will now be sweating on the rest of England’s stars as he prepares to name his final squad.
There are issues for other countries too, with South Korea potentially without captain and talisman Son Heung-min due to a fractured eye.
France have also been dealt a blow this week with the news that Juventus star Paul Pogba is out of the tournament.
Argentina’s FA hope the Prem go for O’Hara’s idea, as they are hoping English clubs will let South American stars depart for World Cup duty before the final league games.
But England captain Harry Kane insists he is looking forward to playing all the matches, as it will give him and team-mates confidence heading into Qatar 2022.
Read More on The Sun
Tottenham star Kane said after Spurs beat Marseille this week: “We’ve got three games before the World Cup and hopefully we can use tonight to finish strongly.
“If we can be there or thereabouts in the Premier League and get through in the Carabao Cup, it’ll be a really good start to the season.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
