Football

Which Premier League players will leave clubs for AFCON 2023? Teams, dates, games

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Dec 22, 2023 / 3512 Views

The stage is set for the highly anticipated 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), with 24 countries gearing up for an exciting winter tournament. Scheduled to kick off on 13 January 2024, and culminate with the final on 11 February, AFCON promises intense comPetition and showcases the Footballing talent from across the African continent. Notably, a significant contingent of Premier League players is expected to participate, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the event, and concerns for some clubs and fans.

Which Premier League teams could be most/least affected?

In October the AFCON 2023 draw for the group stage of the 2023 AFCON took place in the Ivorian capital Abidjan and it was Group C that caught many an eye as reigning champions Senegal were pitted along with Cameroon, Guinea and Gambia. But away from the individual nations worrying about their opposition in the tournament, clubs around the world were starting to ponder time without their African stars.

The groups are set. ✅#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 is now ready to kick off in January! 🇨🇮⚽️ pic.twitter.com/Xxanb9FDzp
— CAF (@CAF_Online) October 12, 2023

AFCON sees Salah absence as Man City escape

Teams in the Premier League know from experience how the start of the calendar year, and therefore the second half of the domestic season, can be crucial to them as they jostle for position in the table. So losing key players is the last thing they want. Nottingham Forest emerge as the club that could be most significantly affected, with eight key players, including Emmanuel Dennis and Taiwo Awoniyi, possibly absent for an extended period. Over in Liverpool, one of the greatest players to grace the English top flight, Mohamed Salah, will be aiming to demonstrate once again why he’s the Egyptian King.

In contrast, Manchester City and Newcastle United seem poised to escape unscathed, as they are the only two Premier League clubs without any player representation at AFCON. This could provide a crucial advantage to these teams as they aim to navigate through a crucial stretch of fixtures in both the Premier League and other competitions. And City will be eyeing the return from injury of Kevin de Bruyne for the run-in too. Good luck, everyone else!

AFCON 2023 Groups:

GROUP A: Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria
GROUP B: Mozambique, Cape Verde, Ghana, Egypt
GROUP C: Gambia, Guinea, Cameroon, Senegal
GROUP D: Angola, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Algeria
GROUP F: Tanzania, Zambia, Democratic Rep. Congo, Morocco

Missing players for big Premier League games

The AFCON 2023 schedule intersects with key fixtures in the Premier League, potentially leading to the absence of star players in pivotal matches. Liverpool, for instance, might have to navigate critical encounters against Chelsea and Arsenal without Salah. Fortunately they have a number of other attacking options this season.

Forest, for their part, have EPL games against Brentford, Arsenal, Bournemouth and Newcastle over the same period.

All the games taking place during AFCON 2023 can be seen below.

AFCON 13 January – 11 February 2024

Algeria - Said Benrahma
Ghana - Mohammed Kudus
Ivory Coast - Max el Cornet
Morocco - Nayef Aguerd

Potential games missed by those 4 players

Sheffield Utd - away
Bournemouth - home
Man Utd - away
Arsenal - home pic.twitter.com/dShSp5J4JM
— West Ham Football (@westhamfootball) September 20, 2023

Full list of potential AFCON 2023 players at Premier League teams

AFC Bournemouth: Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso) Antoine Semenyo (Ghana) Hamed Traore (Ivory Coast)

Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) Thomas Partey (Ghana)

Aston Villa: Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)

Brighton: Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast) Tariq Lamptey (Ghana) Samy Chouchane (Tunisia)

Brentford: Yoane Wissa (DR Congo) Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)

Burnley: Anass Zaroury (Morocco) Lyle Foster (South Africa)

Chelsea: Nicolas Jackson (Senegal)

Crystal Palace: Cheick Doucoure (Mali) Jordan Ayew (Ghana) Jeffrey Schlupp (Ghana)

Everton: Abdoulaye Doucoure (Mali) Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)

Fulham: Calvin Bassey (Nigeria) Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)

Liverpool: Joel Matip (Cameroon) Mohamed Salah (Egypt)

Luton Town: Issa Kabore (Burkina Faso) Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (DR Congo)

Man City: no players

Man Utd: Andre Onana (Cameroon) Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)

Newcastle Utd: no players

Nottingham Forest: Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast) Willy Boly (Ivory Coast) Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast) Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal) Moussa Niakhate (Senegal) Ola Aina (Nigeria) Emmanuel Dennis (Nigeria) Taiwo Awoniyi (Nigeria)

Sheffield United: Benie Traore (Ivory Coast) Ismaila Coulibaly (Mali) Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia)

Tottenham Hotspur: Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal) Yves Bissouma (Mali)

West Ham Utd: Said Benrahma (Algeria) Mohamed Kudus (Ghana) Maxwell Cornet (Ivory Coast) Nayef Aguerd (Morocco)

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria) Boubacar Traore (Mali)