When will Brighton play Tottenham and Manchester United? - Fifa adds intriguing twist to Premier League Covid-19 postponements

Albion's Premier League match against Spurs was due to be played on December 10 but was postponed due to a covid outbreak at the London club.

Eight days later Brighton also saw their Premier League fixture at Manchester United called-off due to positive cases at United.

Graham Potter's team are due to face West Brom in the FA Cup this Saturday and then welcome Crystal Palace to the Amex Stadium on January 14.

Albion then travel to Leicester on January 24 but then stop for the international break, before resuming at Watford on February 12.

Fifa have now earmarked that time slot between Leicester and Watford as a potential chance for the Premier League to reschedule matches postponed due to Covid-19.

Eighteen top-flight games have been called off for Covid-related reasons since last month amid a significant rise in cases, with only three new dates so far.

The international window which runs from January 24 to February 2 will not involve European countries, and had been viewed by the league at the start of the season as an opportunity for any players not called up for international duty elsewhere to take a break.

However, that 10-day period could now be valuable to catch up, and FIFA would not stand in the Premier League’s way if it chose to stage matches then, provided clubs released non-European players when requested to.

A FIFA spokesperson said: “The release of players is mandatory for all international windows listed in the international match calendar.

“Therefore, should clubs and leagues decide to play on those dates they would not be able to feature any player who has been called up/is on international duty.”

Playing top-flight matches during the window could create issues around integrity, with some clubs more affected by call-ups outside Europe than others.

Many clubs have already been weakened after releasing players for the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts on Sunday and runs until February 6.

The Premier League has not commented on how it intends to reschedule further matches beyond three which were allotted new dates last week – Southampton v Brentford, West Ham v Norwich and Everton v Leicester.

Ninety one per cent of Premier League matches this season have been played as scheduled.