Every Premier League player competing at 2023 AFC Asian Cup | OneFootball

The group stages of the AFC Asian Cup kick-off on January 12, 2024, and several Premier League clubs will be without some of their star players while the tournament plays out through January and the beginning of February. With the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 taking place at the same time, some clubs are set to have to battle on without players representing their countries at both competitions.

Only six sides will be losing players to the Asian Cup, but Manchester City and Newcastle United also have the benefit of not losing any players for AFCON either. This means that injury and suspension are the only reasons that will keep players from the Citizens' and Magpies' squads out of upcoming games. Burnley do have two players within their ranks that could have been called up to play at AFCON, but Lyle Foster has been ruled out for South Africa due to mental health struggles and Anass Zaroury failed to be selected by Morocco. This means Vincent Kompany will have a full complement of players to pick from as Burnley look to pull themselves to safety in the Premier League title race.

Every other club will be without members of their first-team squads for the forthcoming weeks of league and domestic cup action. So with all that being said, GIVEMESPORT have decided to take a look at each club that will be missing players for the Asian Cup, which runs until February 10, 2024.

Arsenal - 1

Player: Takehiro Tomiyasu

Takehiro Tomiyasu has been Mikel Arteta's Swiss Army knife in defence in the past 18 months, but the 25-year-old will be absent for the next few weeks at least as he jets off to play for Japan. Having returned from injury just in time for the Gunners' defeat against Fulham on New Year's Eve, Arsenal will again be without their key defender who has previously filled in at left-back, centre-back and right-back.

In fact, before his injury issues, Tomiyasu had dislodged Ben White from the starting right-back role with some extremely solid performances. Japan are expected to go a long way in the tournament and this could mean the defender could be gone for at least four games - probably five - including a huge Premier League clash against title rivals Liverpool.

Arteta may have to get creative in the way he lines his team up, as Tomiyasu is often the man deemed reliable enough to step into the line-up for the big games in order to keep some of the most deadly wingers in the division quiet. White is a more controlled figure in possession of the ball but is something caught out from a defensive standpoint.

Liverpool travel to the Emirates in the FA Cup in the first game the Japanese full-back will miss as he links up with his national squad. Tomiyasu would have been almost guaranteed to start that game, whether that be on the right or left side of the back line with Oleksandr Zinchenko missing the prior fixture due to injury.

Brentford - 1

This is a name that many fans - even some Brentford fans - may be unfamiliar with. Ji-soo Kim is a current member of the Brentford B team and is yet to be seen in the senior team, but the summer signing is clearly thought of as a solid option for the future as the Bees signed him to a four-year deal. And he is at one of the best clubs possible to develop.

Kim has yet to represent his country at senior level, but it looks like he could do so in the Asian Cup, or at least be part of the squad. It won't be a big loss for Thomas Frank, however, as the defender has yet to play for his side to date as previously mentioned. Could the young man be a big part of the club's future plans? Yes, absolutely, but for now he is a youth player that isn't a first-team regular.

Brighton - 1

Brighton were always going to be without Kaoru Mitoma for this period of time, but it may now be for an unexpected reason. The Japan international has been sidelined through a hamstring injury suffered against Crystal Palace in December 2023. This problem ruled the winger out of action for the 4-2 victory over Tottenham, and Roberto De Zerbi revealed that Mitoma would be out for up to six weeks.

This looked to have ended his dreams of playing at the Asian Cup as six weeks would keep him out of the majority of the tournament, even if Japan got as far as expected. However, to the surprise of many - including the Seagulls' manager - the 26-year-old has been called up by his country and this must mean there are hopes he could participate in the latter stages of the competition should they make it to that point.

With this comes a risk for his club, however, as rushing the player back to play in intense games at the end of an international tournament could cause the injury to recur. Mitoma is a key player to the way De Zerbi sets up his Brighton team, with the tricky wide man one of the main sources of creativity in the team's attack and one of the best players not playing for a 'big six' club.

Qualification for the next round of the Europa League means Brighton will be fighting on at least two fronts by the time February rolls around, and thus, they could really do with their talisman returning with no fresh concerns over his fitness. He has managed to get four goals and three assists in the Premier League in 2023/24 so far.

Liverpool - 1

The signing of Wataru Endo saw many Liverpool fans raise their eyebrows in the summer transfer window of 2023. The Reds swooped in to wrap up a £16 million deal for the former Stuttgart midfielder only one week after seeing their world record bid for Moises Caicedo being unsuccessful due to the Ecuadorian opting to move to Chelsea instead.

At the start of the 2023/24 campaign, the defensive-minded player struggled to adapt to his new surroundings as the pace of the league looked to be getting the better of him. Jurgen Klopp insisted that the Japan captain needed time to acclimatise to the Premier League, and the German boss looks to have been spot on in that assessment.

Liverpool will lose Mohamed Salah to AFCON, and this has been widely reported as a huge blow to the Merseyside outfit's title aspirations. Much less has been made of the fact that Endo will also be heading off to play international football as he looks to lead Japan to glory. The 30-year-old has really picked up his performance levels in the absence of Alexis Mac Allister, starting all of his club's fixtures in December.

Mac Allister has returned to action at the perfect time as the man he rotates with in the deepest midfield role in Liverpool's engine room heads off. This will be a huge pressure and strain on the Argentine to remain fit and consistently play for at least the next month. Thiago Alcântara and Stefan Bajcetic are both long-term absentees, but the latter is expected to get back on the pitch in either January or February to potentially share the responsibility with Mac Allister.

Tottenham - 1

Player: Heung-Min Son

The most notable absence from Premier League football due to Asian Cup commitments. Heung-Min Son has stepped up to the plate for Tottenham in the 2023/24 season as the forward was named club captain by incoming boss Ange Postecoglou. When Harry Kane, the second top goalscorer in Premier League history, departed the north London side in the summer to join Bayern Munich, this meant someone would have to take the reigns as the best player at the club.

Son did more than that as he played both the striker role and his more natural left-wing position in the opening half of the league campaign. Scoring 12 goals and registering five assists in 20 games in the English top flight shows the reliance Spurs have on their South Korean star.

Unfortunately for Postecoglou and Co, the 31-year-old will be missing the trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the next league fixture. Tottenham find themselves embroiled in a race to make it into the top four and are within touching distance of the pinnacle of the league. To keep up the charge they have been on without their most valuable asset will be a struggle, and some Spurs fans may even secretly be hoping that South Korea fail to progress to the end of the tournament.

Wolves - 1

Player: Hwang Hee-Chan

Wolves are a side that have famously struggled to find the net on a consistent basis for the past two seasons, but Hwang Hee-chan has done his best to end those dark days in front of goal for Gary O'Neil's side. The South Korean forward has operated across the front line with his versatility being a key asset to the team. Not only that, but Hwang has scored 10 Premier League goals in 20 appearances in 2023/24.

With Pedro Neto being ruled out through a long-term injury, the former RB Leipzig man has been the biggest source of goal contributions and been the main focal point of the Wolves front line. Matheus Cunha and Pablo Sarabia will now have to bear the brunt of responsibility in terms of goalscoring for the next month or so.

Hwang's departure for international duty comes at a bad time for O'Neil as his side have some tough Premier League encounters on the horizon against Brighton, Manchester United, and Chelsea. It remains to be seen if this will prompt the club to make a move in the now open January transfer window.