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Aston Villa Reports 'Significant' COVID-19 Outbreak

Aston Villa Reports 'Significant' COVID-19 Outbreak
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Aston Villa Reports 'Significant' COVID-19 Outbreak

Aston Villa Reports 'Significant' COVID-19 Outbreak

Aston Villa reported a “significant" coronavirus outbreak and closed its training ground on Thursday, a day before a scheduled FA Cup home game against Liverpool.

The Premier League club canceled first-team training ahead of the match.

“Discussions are ongoing between medical representatives of the club, the Football Association and the Premier League,” Aston Villa said in a statement.

The club said “a large number” of players and staff returned positive tests following routine testing on Monday, and they “immediately went into isolation.”

“A second round of testing was carried out immediately and produced more positive results today,” the club said Thursday.

Earlier, Southampton's FA Cup game against Shrewsbury was called off after the third-division team reported a coronavirus outbreak.

The third-round match was scheduled for Saturday at St. Mary's Stadium. It wasn't immediately clear if already tight schedules will allow the game to be played at a later date.

“Shrewsbury Town Football Club earlier confirmed several members of the Town squad and the first team staff tested positive for COVID-19,” the League One team said.

The Football Association informed Southampton and said its Professional Game Board will meet early next week “to make a decision as to what will happen,” the Premier League club said.

Also Thursday, the Manchester City women's team confirmed its game against West Ham scheduled for Saturday has been postponed. City reported “four positive COVID-19 cases and a number of other mitigating factors."

City's men's team has also been navigating through an outbreak, The Associated Press reported.

United States goalkeeper Zack Steffen again stepped in for Ederson — out after contracting the coronavirus — to start in City’s 2-0 win over Manchester United in the League Cup on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson and midfielder Cole Palmer were added to the positive list.

City had six players missing for Sunday’s 3-1 win at Chelsea in the Premier League because they had contracted COVID-19 — Ederson, defenders Kyle Walker and Eric Garcia, midfielder Tommy Doyle, and forwards Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres.

Three Premier League games were postponed last week following an increased number of positive tests at City and Fulham, AP said.

On Saturday, second-division club Derby expects that manager Wayne Rooney and his entire first-team squad will miss the FA Cup match against non-league Chorley following an outbreak.

Derby will instead send a group of under-23 and under-18 players to play in the third-round game, Derby chief executive Stephen Pearce said Wednesday. He said nine players and staff within the first-team bubble had tested positive.

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Russian Teen Andreeva Breezes Into China Open Final

Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, returns a ball to Nikola Bartunkova, of the Czech Republic during the semifinals of the women's singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, returns a ball to Nikola Bartunkova, of the Czech Republic during the semifinals of the women's singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
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Russian Teen Andreeva Breezes Into China Open Final

Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, returns a ball to Nikola Bartunkova, of the Czech Republic during the semifinals of the women's singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, returns a ball to Nikola Bartunkova, of the Czech Republic during the semifinals of the women's singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Mirra Andreeva breezed into the China Open final on Saturday, brushing aside Nikola Bartunkova 6-2, 6-2, and will play either home hope Zheng Qinwen or Belgium's Elise Mertens for the title.

"I wanted to play aggressive today," said the 19-year-old Russian, ranked five in the world.

Andreeva raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set in Beijing as 34th-ranked Bartunkova double-faulted twice before giving away the fourth game, AFP reported.

The 20-year-old Czech made 20 unforced errors across the 74-minute match and was outplayed by the French Open champion, who sent down 27 winners.

Bartunkova saved the first match point but Andreeva triumphed on the second without much more fuss.

"She's a very tricky opponent to play against... she sometimes manages to hit rockets out of nowhere," Andreeva said.

"I tried to be brave no matter what," she said, adding that she calmed some nerves by playing the card game Uno with her coach before the semi-final.

At four Andreeva is the highest-seeded player left in the tournament after a run of upsets saw the departures of Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.

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Medvedev Advances at Shanghai in his 1st Match Since his China Open Disqualification

Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Shanghai Masters - Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai, China - October 10, 2026 Russia's Daniil Medvedev reacts during his round of 64 match against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff REUTERS/Go Nakamura
Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Shanghai Masters - Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai, China - October 10, 2026 Russia's Daniil Medvedev reacts during his round of 64 match against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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Medvedev Advances at Shanghai in his 1st Match Since his China Open Disqualification

Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Shanghai Masters - Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai, China - October 10, 2026 Russia's Daniil Medvedev reacts during his round of 64 match against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff REUTERS/Go Nakamura
Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Shanghai Masters - Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai, China - October 10, 2026 Russia's Daniil Medvedev reacts during his round of 64 match against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff REUTERS/Go Nakamura

Daniil Medvedev has won his first match since being disqualified at the China Open for hitting a spectator in the eye with a ball he hit into the stands.

Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match on Saturday at the Shanghai Masters, an ATP 1000 tennis event, The Associated Press reported.

Medvedev, who now holds a 10-2 career edge over Struff, was disqualified during his semifinal loss Monday to Novak Djokovic for hitting the spectator with a ball the Russian player had hit into the stands.

Medvedev, who apologized after the incident in Beijing, saying it was an accident, lost the $285,000 prize money he would have received for making the semifinals in Beijing.

It was the fifth-seeded Medvedev's first match since the disqualification. In the 96-player Shanghai field, the top 32 seeds receive first-round byes.

In other early second-round matches Saturday, Camilo Ugo Carabelli was playing fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who won last week's Japan Open, was scheduled to play Juan Manuel Cerundolo in a night match in Shanghai.

No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from Shanghai this week when he announced he was taking the rest of 2026 off due to a right knee injury.

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Trackhouse's Fernandez Takes First Pole at Indonesian GP

Trackhouse MotoGP Team MotoGP rider Raul Fernandez of Spain in action during the MotoGP qualifying at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of Indonesia at Mandalika Circuit in Mandalika, Indonesia, 10 October 2026. EPA/MAST IRHAM
Trackhouse MotoGP Team MotoGP rider Raul Fernandez of Spain in action during the MotoGP qualifying at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of Indonesia at Mandalika Circuit in Mandalika, Indonesia, 10 October 2026. EPA/MAST IRHAM
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Trackhouse's Fernandez Takes First Pole at Indonesian GP

Trackhouse MotoGP Team MotoGP rider Raul Fernandez of Spain in action during the MotoGP qualifying at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of Indonesia at Mandalika Circuit in Mandalika, Indonesia, 10 October 2026. EPA/MAST IRHAM
Trackhouse MotoGP Team MotoGP rider Raul Fernandez of Spain in action during the MotoGP qualifying at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of Indonesia at Mandalika Circuit in Mandalika, Indonesia, 10 October 2026. EPA/MAST IRHAM

Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez grabbed a career-first pole at the Indonesian Grand Prix on Saturday, with title contenders Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez set to start on the second row.

Fernandez, who won the British MotoGP in August, finished quickest with a lap of one minute 28.852 seconds -- 0.109 quicker than Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi.

"Too many times, I was very close to taking pole (in the past)," said Fernandez, who also set a lap record during practice on Friday.

"Yesterday, I started to feel super comfortable with the bike. This morning, to be honest, I didn't really ⁠feel like that.

"I ⁠just tried to be calm, tried to not be nervous. Now we have a very good opportunity, let's try to enjoy and let's try to fight for the victory,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

VR46 Racing's Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the front row with a strong display on his birthday.

Bezzecchi was content with second place despite ⁠having to abandon what looked set to be a pole-winning lap when yellow flags were waved following a Fermin Aldeguer crash.

"I'm very happy. It was a good job this morning in practice, but also in the qualifying, I was confident on the bike," the Italian said.

"Unfortunately, I met a yellow flag in the second stint, but I'm very, very happy, satisfied. It's a very good first row for this afternoon, but also for tomorrow."

Defending champion Marquez of Ducati was fourth-quickest, just ⁠ahead of ⁠title rival and championship leader Martin of Aprilia.

With six rounds remaining in the season, including the Indonesian MotoGP, the outcome of the championship is hanging on a knife-edge as Martin sits on 333 points - just two above Marquez.

Marquez will fancy his chances of closing that gap this weekend, but the weight of history is against him, with the Spaniard having a disastrous record at the Mandalika circuit, where he has never completed a full MotoGP race.

Last year, he suffered a season-ending collarbone injury in the race after a crunching collision with Bezzecchi on the opening lap.