When is AFCON and which Premier League players will be missing for top clubs? - The Mirror

The rescheduled 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) takes place between January and February and will involve a number of Premier League players.

The 2021 African Cup of Nations kicks off on Sunday when 24 nations will compete in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6, after the tournament was initially supposed to be played in January last year but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This will potentially cause a lot of difficulties for some Premier League clubs as the competition takes place during the domestic season, meaning that they will be missing those who are representing their countries at the tournament.

Stars such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang are just a few of the names who should be on show in Cameroon but this means there will be big gaps to fill for Premier League teams who are at the halfway point of the season.

Here is all you need to know about which players could be missing for some of the Premier League’s big clubs.

Which club will suffer the most without their players during AFCON 2021? Have your say in the comments below.

Arsenal

Arsenal will have four of their players missing over the next month when the tournament takes place.

The absentees will be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Thomas Partey (Ghana), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast) and Mohamed Elneny (Egypt).

Gabon’s chances of success are expected to be low, so Aubameyang could return at an early stage, but it is to be expected that Partey, Pepe and Elneny all have a strong chance of winning the competition with their nations and could be out for longer.

Chelsea

Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (Senegal) will be a big miss for Thomas Tuchel’s side as the Chelsea number one has put in some tremendous performances already this campaign.

Hakim Ziyech is also a big player in Tuchel’s side and is the second member of the Blues' squad that will be missing for the west London club when he represents Morocco.

Senegal are tipped to go far in this tournament, while Morocco’s chances of success are also high, so the pair could be involved for the majority of the tournament.

Liverpool

Without a doubt, Liverpool will suffer the most with player absentees at AFCON 2021 this year.

Forwards Mo Salah and Sadio Mane will leave a major hole in Jurgen Klopp’s side when they represent Egypt and Senegal respectively, while Naby Keita is also set to be a big miss when he links up with Guinea.

Keita's Guinea have low chances of success, but there is every chance that Salah and Mane can win the tournament with their nations.

Manchester City

As the only African in Manchester City’s squad, it will just be Riyad Mahrez who departs the Etihad this month for Pep Guardiola.

The winger helped his nation lift the 2019 edition and will be looking to help them further by retaining their crown this time around.

With City’s strength in depth, they should be prepared for Mahrez to be out of action for a while.

Manchester United

With Manchester United’s defence already shaky as it is, things won’t be helped by Eric Bailly flying off to Cameroon to compete at AFCON 2021 with Ivory Coast.

The Elephants are one of the usual favourites, so if they go far then Bailly will be absent for the whole month.

Otherwise, United have no other players competing in the tournament.

Other notable absentees

Tottenham have no worries when it comes to AFCON 2021 due to a lack of African players in their squad, so January could be a time where Spurs really kick on.

Elsewhere, Leicester will miss four of their players, with Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal), Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria) and Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria) all out of action.

Crystal Palace will be without three players, while Watford are without five.