Prem clubs ranked on AFCON, Asian Cup absentees: Forest suffer; Man City, Newcastle unscathed
Manchester City and Newcastle won’t be waving any of their players off in the New Year for AFCON or Asian Cup duty. But Forest will lose a sextet, while Manchester United must find a new goalkeeper for a few weeks…
The AFCON 2023 finals will be held in Ivory Coast between January 13 and February 11, 2024. The AFC Asian Cup will start and finish a day earlier in Qatar, running from January 12 to February 10.
FIFA dictates that those called up must be released by the Monday before the tournaments start, so the players below will likely be available to play in the FA Cup third round before jetting off on international duty.
Between then and February 11, there are four full Premier League matchdays as well as the FA Cup fourth round. The AFCON group stage concludes on January 25, so players could start returning anytime after that as and when their nations are eliminated.
Here’s how badly each Premier League club is affected by the tournaments…
Nottingham Forest – 6 players absent
Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Ibrahim Sangare (all Ivory Coast)
Ola Aina (Nigeria)
Cheikhou Kouyate, Moussa Niakhate (both Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Brentford (A), Arsenal (H), Bournemouth (A), Newcastle (H)
Brentford – 4
Yoane Wissa (Congo)
Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Saman Ghoddos (Iran)
Kim Ji-soo (South Korea).
Premier League fixtures: Nottingham Forest (H), Spurs (A), Manchester City (H), Wolves (A)
Wolves – 4
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria)
Boubacar Traore (Mali)
Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea)
Justin Hubner (Indonesia)
Premier League fixtures: Brighton (A), Manchester United (H), Chelsea (A), Brentford (H)
Manchester United – 3
Andre Onana (Cameroon)
Amad (Ivory Coast)
Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
Premier League fixtures: Spurs (H), Wolves (A), West Ham (H), Aston Villa (A)
Fulham – 3
Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi (both Nigeria)
Fode Ballo-Toure (Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Chelsea (A), Everton (H), Burnley (A), Bournemouth (H)
Tottenham – 3
Yves Bissouma (Mali)
Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)
Son Heung-min (South Korea)
Premier League fixtures: Manchester United (A), Brentford (H), Everton (A), Brighton (H)
Brighton – 3
Tariq Lamptey (Ghana)
Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast)
Kaoru Mitoma (Japan)
Premier League fixtures: Wolves (H), Luton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Spurs (A)
West Ham – 2
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana)
Nayef Aguerd (Morocco)
Premier League fixtures: Sheffield United (A), Bournemouth (H), Manchester United (A), Arsenal (H)
Arsenal – 2
Mohamed Elneny (Egypt)
Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan)
Premier League fixtures: Crystal Palace (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Liverpool (H), West Ham (A)
Bournemouth – 2
Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso)
Antoine Semenyo (Ghana)
Premier League fixtures: Liverpool (H), West Ham (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Fulham (A)
Liverpool – 2
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Wataru Endo (Japan)
Premier League fixtures: Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H), Arsenal (A), Burnley (H)
Sheffield United – 2
Yasser Larouci (Algeria)
Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia)
Premier League fixtures: West Ham (H), Crystal Palace (A), Aston Villa (H), Luton (A)
Crystal Palace – 1
Jordan Ayew (Ghana)
Premier League fixtures: Arsenal (A), Sheffield United (H), Brighton (A), Chelsea (H)
Everton – 1
Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Aston Villa (H), Fulham (A), Spurs (H), Manchester City (A)
Luton – 1
Issa Kabore (Burkina Faso)
Premier League fixtures: Burnley (A), Brighton (H), Newcastle (A), Sheffield United (H)
Chelsea – 1
Nicolas Jackson (Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Fulham (H), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H), Crystal Palace (A)
Aston Villa – 1
Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Premier League fixtures: Everton (A), Newcastle (H), Sheffield United (A), Manchester United (H)
Manchester City – 0
Premier League fixtures: Newcastle (A), Burnley (H), Brentford (A), Everton (H)
Newcastle – 0
Premier League fixtures: Manchester City (H), Luton (A), Aston Villa (H), Nottingham Forest (A)
Burnley – 0
Premier League fixtures: Luton (H), Manchester City (A), Fulham (H), Liverpool (A)
