Africa Cup of Nations 2022: Premier League players representing their nations at AFCON 2022 – The Africa Cup of Nations will run from January 9 to February 6, with over 40 Premier League players potentially being called up for international duty for the tournament in Cameroon. That could prove a problem for teams like Liverpool, who will likely see Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita selected for the tournament, as well as Watford (6 players), Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Leicester (4 players). Follow InsideSport.IN for the latest Football news and updates.
Africa Cup of Nations 2022: Premier League players who are representing their nations at the AFCON 2022; Check full list
MANCHESTER CITY players missing: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
PL games impacted: Jan 1: Arsenal (A); Jan 15: Chelsea (H); Jan 22: Southampton (A); Feb 9: Brentford (H)
Manchester City come out as one of the luckier sides in January, losing just one player to AFCON. Pep Guardiola will be counting himself lucky in this regard. Although Riyad Mahrez has made 14 appearances this season in a total of 662 minutes. He has contributed by scoring four goals and providing three assists. Losing Mahrez will be an irritation, but with loads of backup available, it won’t affect their performances.
LIVERPOOL players missing: Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Naby Keita (Guinea), Sadio Mane (Senegal)
PL games impacted: Jan 2: Chelsea (A); Jan 15: Brentford (H); Jan 23: Crystal Palace (A); Feb 9: Leicester (H)
Liverpool will miss out on the services from Salah and Mane who are cruciala part of the attacking trio, which leaves just Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota. Mo Salah is the competition’s top scorer with 15 goals and also has 9 assists to his name. Sadio Mane has scored 7 goals and provided 1 assist but has equally played his part in Liverpool’s success.
It could be very impactful in the title race as with Liverpool being in 2nd place and face Chelsea in the new year. Naby Keita will be the third player to miss out for Liverpool during his International duty.
CHELSEA players missing: Edouard Mendy (Senegal)
PL games impacted: Jan 2: Liverpool (H); Jan 15: Man City (A); Jan 23: Tottenham (H); Feb 8: Brighton (A)
Thomas Tuchel will miss his main man Edouard Mendy who has been in brilliant form this season playing 17 matches, making 45 saves and keeping 8 clean sheets in the league. Chelsea has conceded just 12 goals this season with 7 of them coming in their last 6 games where Chelsea have performed poorly and has cost them the top position in the Title race having slipped to third place.
Ziyech has been left out of the Morroco squad. With Mendy off for his International duty, Kepa Arrizabalaga is going to be in goal having played just 1 game in the league in which he managed to keep a clean sheet. Kepa has shown his heroics in the Carabao Cup shootouts and games and will look to build his confidence until Mendy is back to take over.
ARSENAL players missing: Thomas Partey (Ghana), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast)
PL games impacted: Jan 1: Man City (H); Jan 16: Tottenham (A); Jan 22: Burnley (H); Feb 8: Wolves (A)
Arsenal will be without four players during the AFCON Competition. Although, Mikel Arteta would only be worried for Thomas Partey with his defensive rigidness which has helped Arsenal stay in 4th position in the League table. With Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe and Martin Odegaard leading the attack Arsenal shouldn’t be worried these star names have been performing well.
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang will not be missed even as he travels to Cameroon as he has not featured for Arsenal in their last 4 games after being stripped off the club’s captaincy due to disciplinary reasons.
WEST HAM UNITED players missing: Said Benrahma (Algeria)
David Moyes will be pleased knowing that just one first-team player will be missing out due to the African competition. Said Benrahma has been a key player alongside Bowen & Fornals and Antonio upfront having contributed with three goals and three assists. Could Jesse Lingard replace the Algerian who plays in the Centre-Attacking Midfield position?
MANCHESTER UNITED players missing: Eric Bailly, Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)
PL games impacted: Jan 3: Wolves (H); Jan 15: Aston Villa (A); Jan 22: West Ham (H); Feb 8: Burnley (A)
Across Manchester, City’s rivals United also come out of AFCON relatively unscathed, they will lose just two players, but only one has played in the league this season. With a new and competent manager in Ralf Rangnick, a favorable fixture list, and some AFCON luck, things are very much looking up at Old Trafford.
Winger Amad Diallo is only 19 and is still very much considered one for the future at United. Center-back Bailly, on the other hand, has made a handful of appearances, but with a total of just 152 minutes of action, his absence can easily be resolved after having Varane, Maguire, Lindelof, Jones and youngsters Mengi to back him up.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR don’t have any players who will participate in the AFCON competition.
Africa Cup of Nations: The rest of the Premier League teams
ASTON VILLA players missing: Mahmoud Trezeguet (Egypt), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
BRENTFORD players missing: Julian Jeanvier (Guinea), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria), Tariqe Fosu-Henry (Ghana)
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION players missing: Yves Bissouma (Mali)
BURNLEY players missing: Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)
CRYSTAL PALACE players missing: Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Jordan Ayew (Ghana), Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)
EVERTON players missing: Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
LEICESTER CITY players missing: Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal), Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)
SOUTHAMPTON players missing: Moussa Djenepo (Mali)
WATFORD players missing: William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria), Adam Masina (Morocco), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Imran Louza (Morocco)
WOLVES players missing: Romain Saiss (Morocco), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast)
Africa Cup of Nations 2022: Premier League players who are representing their nations at the AFCON 2022; Check full list
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