Seven individuals tested positive for COVID-19 in the latest round of tests conducted between December 14-20 on 1,569 Premier League players and staff, the league said on Monday.

The league did not name the people who tested positive or their clubs but said they will self-isolate for ten days.

Since the new season kicked off, more than 100 individuals in the English top flight have tested positive for the coronavirus in 16 rounds of testing.

Newcastle United had an outbreak in their squad and staff earlier this month which forced the club to close their training ground and postpone their match against Aston Villa.

Some clubs were allowed to reopen stadiums for a maximum of 2,000 fans but most have gone back to playing behind closed doors, including those based in London after the government tightened restrictions in the city last week.

Meanwhile, the League Cup final has been put back by two months and will be held on April 25, in the hope that a later date will allow fans to attend, the English Football League (EFL) announced on Monday.

The final of the competition, known by its sponsored name as the Carabao Cup, was due to be held on February 28 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Football Australia (FA) have reshuffled the fixtures for the early rounds of the new Australian League (A-League) season, which starts on Sunday, as an outbreak of the coronavirus in Sydney means inter-state matches are unable to be played.

"We've mapped out the next month in light of the latest restrictions," FA's head of leagues Greg O'Rourke said in a statement.

"We gained a significant amount of knowledge from the staging of the 2019/20 season which enabled us to move quickly and respond to these latest changes."

New Zealand's Wellington Phoenix, who are basing themselves south of Sydney in Wollongong for the new season, were due to play Brisbane Roar on December 29 in Queensland in the opening match for both sides.

The Roar, however, will now host Melbourne City at Redcliffe while the Phoenix will open their season against champions Sydney FC in Wollongong on January 2.

The reshuffle ensures New South Wales (NSW) based teams play each other. Teams based outside of NSW can play each other without border restrictions.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi has explained how tough it has been to play without fans in the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, likening the experience to a training session.

"It's horrible to play without fans, it's a very ugly sensation," Barcelona captain Messi told newspaper Marca on Monday after receiving the "Pichichi" award for the top scorer in La Liga last season.

"Seeing no-one in the stadium is like a training session and it is very tough to really get going at the start of a game."

The new normal of football in empty stadiums has certainly taken its toll on Messi and Barca.

The Catalans were top of La Liga with 11 games to go when last season was disrupted by the pandemic but they surrendered the title to Real Madrid when play resumed in empty stadiums.

They then suffered a humiliating 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League in an empty Estadio da Luz in Lisbon in August.

This season they have made their worst start in 33 years and are currently fifth in La Liga, way off the pace of leaders Atletico Madrid, while they failed to finish top in their Champions League group for the first time since 2006.

The 33-year-old Messi meanwhile is having his worst individual season since the 2007/08 campaign, scoring only nine goals in all competitions, five of which have been penalties.

"The truth is it's very ugly and that's why we are seeing such evenly matched games. It's very difficult to win, regardless of who you are playing against," Messi added.