EURO 2020, Copa America, AFCON…all the major football tournaments have been rescheduled due to Covid-19 pandemic, and after the major European competition was finished in 2021, and South America followed, now it’s time for The Africa Cup of Nations. The tournament was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and wet weather concerns, but everything is ready now for January 2022 and the Premier League managers are not happy. In fact, some of them are desperate.A number of African footballers are playing in the Premier League and some of them are stars in their teams. The prospect of losing their imortant players in January is already causing a lot of problems to various managers, but the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Mikel Arteta, Brendan Rodgers, Patrick Vieira and Claudio Ranieri will have the biggest headache.At this moment, Salah is better than Messi and RonaldoIt’s not just the number of players who will be absent (for example Watford will possibly be without five players), but it’s also the matter of who will be absent. Liverpool have only three players who will miss the Premier League matches, but we are talking about two key players like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, and one first team regular Naby Keita. Leicester has three strikers in their squad, but Kelechi Iheanacho will go to AFCON, along with other important players like Ndidi (Nigeria), Amartey (Ghana) and Mandy (Senegal). Arsenal will be in trouble as Arteta will be crippled almost as Liverpool: Thomas Partey (Ghana), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) and Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast) will all be gone. 🚨 NEW: It’s likely that a group of approximately 40 players will leave for AFCON soon after the final whistle blows on Boxing Day and some players may not fly back until the second week of February. By which time up to eight games could have been missed. #awlive [the athletic] pic.twitter.com/1DY8fpMJvu— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) October 21, 2021 Other bigger Premier League clubs could benefit from AFCON, as they don’t have many players who are going. For example, Manchester City, who are loaded in midfield will miss only Riyad Mahrez, while Chelsea have only two, Edouard Mendy (Senegal) and Hakim Ziyech (Morocco), but the former Ajax man was ejected from the national squad by Vahid Halilhodžic, which could only be good for Thomas Tuchel. Tottenham doesn’t have any AFCON bound players.’Unacceptable behaviour’ by Ziyech sidelines him from Morocco qualifiersAnd then there are ‘weaker’ clubs who have a number of players who are going to the tournament, and who are vital for their teams, but this also means that those teams, already short in numbers, will risk fielding youth prospects in some games. The likes of Crystal Palace and Watford, who are among relegation candidates, are worried that their first team players are will miss January.Arsenal’s Partey puts himself at disposal for every single role with Black StarsAnd when the AFCON begins, Premier league coaches will probably root against their players teams (at least privately), but again, some of those players are playing for the favorites, and are expected to reach the later stages, like Algeria, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Egypt of Senegal.Premier League players going to AFCON:Arsenal: Thomas Partey (Ghana), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast)Aston Villa: Mahmoud Trezeguet (Egypt), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Marvelous Nakamba (Zimbabwe)Brentford: Frank Onyeka (Nigeria), Tariqe Fosu-Henry (Ghana),Brighton: Yves Bissouma (Mali)Burnley: Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)Chelsea: Edouard Mendy (Senegal), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco)Crystal Palace: Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Jeffrey Schlupp (Ghana), Jordan Ayew (Ghana), Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)Everton: Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Ivory Coast), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)Leeds United: NoneLeicester City: Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal), Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria), Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)Liverpool: Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Naby Keita (Guinea), Sadio Mane (Senegal)Manchester City: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)Manchester United: Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)Newcastle United: NoneNorwich City: None Southampton: Moussa Djenepo (Mali), Mohammed Salisu (Ghana), Tottenham Hotspur: NoneWatford: Peter Etebo (Nigeria), William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria), Adam Masina (Morocco), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Emmanuel Dennis (Nigeria)West Ham: NoneWolves: Romain Saiss (Morocco)
