Anfield clash joins casualties

The Anfield fixture on Sunday follows those that were due to be played at Sunderland, Fulham and Burnley on Saturday in falling victim to Britain's severe winter.

As with most games at the top level, where all clubs have undersoil heating, the problem is with the area surrounding the ground and roads.

A Liverpool spokesman said: "The safety of our fans is paramount and an assessment of both the prevailing conditions and the weather forecast for the next 48 hours has been made in arriving at the decision to call off the match."

Sunderland's Premier League clash with Bolton earlier became the third top-flight match to be postponed following a recommendation from the city's Safety Advisory Group, who met for a second time on Friday morning.

Safety Advisory Group chairman Ken Scott said in a statement on www.safc.com: "Clearly the combination of a number of factors has led us to make this decision. The early timing has been deliberate in order to avoid many thousands of people embarking on unnecessary and potentially hazardous journeys."

Burnley's Turf Moor meeting with Stoke also fell foul of the cold as it was called off due to "adverse conditions".

And there may be further postponements in the top flight with Liverpool's clash with Tottenham on Sunday in doubt after the Anfield club recommended to the Premier League that the game be postponed, again due to conditions in areas surrounding the stadium.

The postponement of Saturday's Coca-Cola Championship fixtures between Middlesbrough and Swansea at the Riverside and QPR and Plymouth at Loftus road mean there are only four fixtures remaining in English football's second tier.

League One's remaining fixtures still standing are Leeds United v Wycombe and Norwich v Exeter, while the entire League Two schedule has fallen foul to the weather.

Source: PA

Source: PA